Static TV Blog

Justin Stens of Dr Dog Fame needs your help!

2011-11-09T07:47:00.007-06:00

An old friend from Dr. Dog, Justin Stens, is trying to make a record by traveling on his motorcycle across the country and recording with a few of his famous friends. Our dear friend Drew is also a long for the ride to document the whole thing (we at Static are very proud to be supporting this doc as well on many levels). However, they have hit some road bumps along the way, as I am sure many of us have in these financial times, and they are looking for a little help to finish this project. Here is there message:

Hi friends,

This August I embarked on my most creative and ambitious project yet. I have been riding my motorcycle across the US visiting friends/musicians for a few days at a time to co-write and record one song at each stop using only the gear/instruments that are available, ultimately creating an album. I have been collaborating with some of my favorite song writers and musicians and meeting more along the way. I left Philadelphia with a batch of tunes in my head, but I have discovered new things at each step of the journey and continue to write new songs as I go.

I travel on my 1972 Triumph motorcycle and have been accompanied by a small documentary film crew led by Drew Stubbs to capture this writing/recording process as well as a rare American road trip.

This is more than just an album, it's an interesting journey and a sonic and visual documentation of an experiment in collaboration, including a network of talented musicians spanning the continent...
So far I have visited and recorded with:

Do send any help if you can. I mean IT IS the holidays and all!
Cambridge,MA - DRUG RUG, Sue Bell, Jesse Gallagher of APOLLO SUNSHINE
Harrisburg,PA - Rebecca Marie Miller of MYNABIRDS
Akron,OH - JESSICA LEA Mayfield, Bob Cesare
Chicago,IL - John Stirrat of WILCO / AUTUMN DEFENSE
Nashville,TN - DAVID VANDERVELDE, Courtney Jaye
Murfreesboro,TN - THOSE DARLINS
Black Mt., NC - FLOATING ACTION
New Orleans, LA - GENERATIONALS, Julie Odell of GIANT CLOUD
Lafayette,LA - BRASS BED
SanAntonio, TX - HACIENDA / HAWKS of holy rosary
Austin, TX - Bill Baird of SUNSET / Jim Eno of SPOON
December:
Tucson, AZ - BRADFORD TROJAN
Long Beach, CA - DELTA SPIRIT
Santa Barbara, CA - GARDENS AND VILLA
SanFrancisco, CA - Jeremy Black of APOLLO SUNSHINE

I am excited and grateful to have the opportunity to work with so many talented musicians. Please look them up to have a listen to their work. In conjunction with the release of this album, Drew Stubbs plans to screen the finished documentary in the Spring of 2012 at music and film festivals. I have been working hard all year planning and saving up for an adventure like this and I will match all donations up to $5000 to ensure a safe and happy trip. This is an independently funded project and is not financially backed or associated with any record label. ( yet ) Your donations will be used to help with the post production of documentary, video equipment rental, editing, promotion/publicity efforts, and emergency motorcycle repair, final mix and mastering of album, and to help me get home by the holidays.

I invite you to take part and give a helpful hand in something that has never been done before. I know it's not a moon landing or climbing Mt.Everest but I think it's a pretty special project and I have invested my heart and soul.

Please spread the word to friends and music lovers and please come along for the ride.

Kickstarter link:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1371951659/along-for-the-ride-a-musical-journey-0

Do send any help if you can. I mean IT IS the holidays and all!

October 2011 Playlist

2011-11-02T09:04:00.004-05:00

Hey y'all. Once again I have left you in the dark as far as posts and shows. No more appoliogies, just content.

Twin Sister - Bad Street

I feel like I might have been in a more soulful mood then usual. This song is a great way to start any playlist.

Mayer Hawthorne - A Long Time

In the class of Jamie Lidell where you scratch your head and say, is that voice really coming out of his mouth? Really love this album.

Class Actress - Weekend

Sexy and danceable. Totally a more mature look at that Rebecca Black song.

Tycho - A Walk

This album brings me back to the early 2000s. So much to love about this album. It sets a tone and mood better than most works I have heard this year.

Feist - Caught A Long Wind

So happy to have her voice back in my life. This album is a lot less poppy and more rocking than her highly succesful sopmore work, The Reminder. Don't let that scare you off from it though. There is a lot of heart and emotion that went into this record and it resinates throughout.

Deer Tick - The Bump

Love these guys, probably too much. I have a feeling many a person sitting next to me on the train would appreciate me turn down their tracks.

Weekend - Hazel

It seemed like all their work was trending this month on my Rdio page. Very 80s and very rocking.

J Cole - Mr Nice Watch

Now, how could I go a month without one rap song on the playlist? I love the beats that rappers are using these days. This is by far my favorite track on the album, though the whole album has a lot of solid tunes and many are surprising uplifting.

I didn't have time to make a Spotify version of this playlist this month, but here is the Rdio playlist for those who dabble in that.

Review: M83 Hurry Up, We're Dreaming.

2011-10-21T15:16:00.003-05:00

M83's Hurry Up, We're Dreaming. officially redefines their genre into more than space-synth or dreampop. I'm not going to call it shoegazing because that name is stupid and people only "gaze" at their shoes when they're in trouble. And who's the idiot who didn't come up with stargazing? After all they are named for a spiral galaxy. Uplifting, reflective and motivational---maybe we could call it church. No, it's too dancey for that. How about transcendental electronica? Gonzales did say that this album was influenced by numerous trips to Joshua Tree National Park. I think Emerson would be proud.

French frontman Anthony Gonzalez called the album "very, very, very epic." Sounds pretentious, but it is in fact epic x3. Apparently the best M83 album yet. Because Pitchfork says so. Despite the fact that they've given every M83 album high marks. For the most part, the extra attention from Pitchfork means this album is receiving a wider audience many of whom are listening to the back-catalogue, Before the Dawn Heals Us or maybe Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts, for the first time.

M83 has been making music for 10 years and over time the sound has evolved from melodrama to pitch-perfect introspection. I can't get over it. It makes me swoon every time:

Why does the single "Midnight City" sound so familiar? My boyfriend made the connection: Drive. It's like Kavinsky with far more depth - like the lovechild of Kavinsky and Noam Chomsky. In-song progressions shift so dramatically you're left wondering if you're listening to the same song. There's the same heady dreamscapes vibrating between morose and uplifting, but with some other unexpected additions. For instance, the child narrator in "Raconte-moi une histoire"is reminiscent of The Books and their playful use of obscure reading samples. For the first time there's also acoustic guitar and saxophone (giving it the added feel of 80s throwback) on this album.

Something that consistently surprises me about M83 is that their more uplifting, inspiring work never gets old and somehow Gonzales keeps making more of it. I'm stuck on this one right now:

&lt;p&gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://soundowl.com/track/1lmg/m83-steve-mcqueen"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Download M83 Steve McQueen&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt;

Buy/Spotify Hurry Up, We're Dreaming. Use it to conquer the world.

For the latecomers here's a Brief History of M83:
Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts (2003). The song "Run Into Flowers" sold me on M83, although today it sounds a little too ambient to be true.

M83 - Run Into Flowers

There was more palpable inspiration and torment in Before the Dawn Heals Us (2005). "Teen Angst" and "Don't Save Us From the Flames" turned out to be much more mature than their emotionally taut names.

Digital Shades Vol. 2 (2007) showed a more somber side of mellow dreaminess. The band has a way of pulling you down into a lonely place and then building you back up into hopefulness.

And of course Saturdays = Youth (2008) included probably the most fully realized culmination of both M83's energy and meditativeness. The shining star: "We Own the Sky."

Sarah Rae is a freelance writer and editor-in-chief of Poydras Review. She lives and writes in Brooklyn.

Synth Music & Sexy Cars: How Drive is Like Christine

2011-09-29T10:46:00.002-05:00

Yes, I'm going to compare the sexy, blood-spattered Drive about an (insurmountably hot) carman in a heist gone wrong to Christine, John Carpenter's film adaptation of Stephen King's novel about a killer car.

Christine summary: a 1958 Plymouth Fury who entrances young males who want to own her. Once they have her they don't want anything else and eventually it leads to their ruin. Essentially they become angry, jealous, paranoid alcoholics. Christine kills for them - they kill for her. It's murdertastic.

It's not just the car-love, the violence, or the many shots of simply driving around and long, awkward pauses in conversation - the music in Drive is reminiscent of Christine. I'm not talking about when Christine plays "Bony Moronie," I'm referring to her score, the synth-charged moments when she's up to no good. I find myself at a loss because it seems most people are either too old to see Drive in the theater or too young to have seen Christine (1984). So let me offer up this example scene "The Death of Moochie"

Now compare that to College's A Real Hero - kind of the anthem of Drive.

A lot of the electro-pop in Drive is an 80s throwback. You can see their roots from across the room. In fact, Kavinsky's Nightcall single has (essentially) Terminator on the cover, and his previous album called 1986 featured the same illustration. And they know they tinker in the 80s horror genre, I mean, listen to Chromatics "Killing Spree" (and this is the non-gore video):

Word of advice, the Drive soundtrack is mostly made up of ambient music by Cliff Martinez, stuff that I could hear and never even remember from the film. What you want it the first few tracks which iTunes, Amazon, nobody wants to sell the separately because they know no one wants Cliff Martinez. Here's the solution, what you're looking for is available already on other albums. Look for this:

College (featuring Electric Youth) - A Real Hero EP
Desire - II "Under Your Spell" (Don't Call is also a really good song on this album)
Kavinsky - Nightcall Anniversary Edition
Chromatics - Night Drive "Tick of the Clock"(Think about buying "Night Drive" or "Running Up that Hill" from this album instead)

I could take it further and compare Arnie to Ryan Gosling, but I'll spare him the embarrassment since his bicep equals one whole Keith Gordon. Suffice to say, their crazy-eyes make hearts flutter - and they still look hot covered in blood.

I'll leave you with this long scene from Christine. And, yeah, the guy in the passenger seat is the guy from he beginning of Ghostbusters while Bill Murray is testing for ESP, "Well, I didn't know you were gonna be giving me electric shocks!"

Sarah Rae is a freelance writer and fiction editor for Prick ofthe Spindle. She lives and writes in Brooklyn. www.sarahrae.net

Required Reading: Dirty South

2011-09-07T09:02:00.005-05:00

When you live outside of LA or New York, sometimes you feel like your voice is never heard. That your stories are not seen as important from an outside perspective. How many movies or long running, successful comedies or sitcoms have taken place in Atlanta, Dallas or Houston? The South is perceived as backwards and uneducated and these negative stereotypes are not, by any means, the whole story of the South. This is a proud place that through it’s neglect, and isolation has built it’s own unique culture that has cultivated some of the greatest food, literature and music the world has ever seen. So, who will tell the true stories of what it is like to live in the South if not Hollywood or Broadway? How about the fables we hear from Southern Rappers?

These are tales of true entrepreneurs like DJ Smurf and Screw who went about their business the way they saw best. Originators like Paul Wall, who would rather write music for his own hood, rather than try and make mass appeal songs and still found national success. And, truly unique stories like that of Scarface, and his time in a mental institution in his youth and how it drove him to be one of the most respected musicians he is today. These are just a few stories of a lot of musicians and artists that were raised below the Mason Dixon line and shunned from major labels and popular East Coast and West Coast independent rap imprints because they weren't perceived as true Hip Hop. This drove many of them to the point where they felt that to survive they had to do it themselves; despite their love and appreciation of the Godfathers of Hip Hop and Rap, and a want to be apart of the larger community.

And do it themselves they did, and with a degree of success that has most other rappers around the country still trying to catch up. This month alone, Lil Wayne's The Carter IV out did the highly anticipated Watch the Thrown venture by Jay Z and Kanye West. As Bun B told VBS.tv for their documentary Screwed in Houston “A lot of these cats (in the South) learned to make what they needed to make happen outside of the system. They just said ‘fuck it,’ and it’s that ‘fuck it’ mentality that gets these cats these great deals” now with the major labels.

RZA of the Wu Tang Clan is quoted in the Ben Westhoff's book Dirty South saying “The South has evolved later than us.” Really RZA? This is a strange belief that has no root in musical history that dates back to prior then the late 1970s. True, Hip Hop and Rap may have come from New York, but the blues and rhythms that live in Hip Hop as we know it, and which is found in all modern popular music comes from the South and more specifically the Delta. The Blues is the father of all great American music, and comes from a combination of Baptist/Catholic cultures, and more importantly African cultures. These cultures melted from a more liberal allowance of a freedom of expression that was allowed in the colonial days of the South and Caribbean and in particular New Orleans. This is totally opposite of the Northern culture that did not allow slaves in the Protestant, English colonies that restricted any drumming or singing, since it was seen as a sign of unifying which would lead to revolts.

I could go on about how important Southern roots music is, but I know I am preaching to the choir here. A majority of this point is touched on more eloquently than I could ever put it by Ben Westhoff new book Dirty South: Outkast, Lil Wayne, Soulja Boy and the Southern Rappers who reinvented Hip Hop, out now on Chicago Review Press. Ben goes on to show how Southern musicians in the last decade and a half have gone on to conquer the music style that was not necessarily created by them. These rappers had a better understanding of what everyday people want to hear from their musicians: party music. And Southern rappers went on to create some of the biggest dance crazes of the last decade from Crunk to Bounce and from Swerve to Snap.

Good music helps you forget all the problems in the world: war, Wall Street buyouts, and revolutions. And that is what Southern music has always been about. Thats Jazz; thats brass music; that's Country and that's especially the blues and the best blues helps you get over the blues. Southern music isn’t Gil Scott Heron, it’s Ray Charles. It’s not KRS One or Grand Master Flash it’s Scarface and Juvenile. It's not Tribe Called Quest it's Outcast. And note, that all the Southern artists mentioned sold more records then their North Eastern counterparts. And, what is the measure of success? Financial or critical?

Dirty South is a delightfully easy read, and I believe Ben looks at all the musicians in the book from the perspective of a true reporter. This is something you don’t see enough of these days. He put in a lot of hard work into this book, and it shows. From actually going out to meet such rappers as Ms Peachez, known for her Fry that Chicken song, to pretty much stalking Luke Campbell from 2 Lie Crew. All of this hard work contributes to him telling some amazing anecdotes about some of the musicians that have been a part of many of our soundtrack for the last 15 years. There are stories of rappers being true to themselves from the likes of T-Pain to people so self aware of their persona's and their brand that it is inspiring, like TI. These are stories that once you hear them you will never be able to listen to their work the same way again.

If you are at all a fan of music, especially rap, I highly suggest picking up this book. You will be happy you did.

August 2011 Playlist

2011-09-01T15:24:00.007-05:00

Ever wonder what you are known for? What your brand is? I wonder if I am known as the half ass blogger/music video show producer. To all my fans who come here on a regular basis and follow us on Twitter and Facebook. Thank you! Here is one of my favorite posts of the month. Here is our August playlist!

Zee Avi - Swell Window

If you start selling an album at Starbucks does that ruin your street cred because you have gone "mainstream"? Or, because no one with street cred supposedly shops at Starbucks does it even matter? Regardless, Zee is a beautiful singer, songwriter. UKULELES ARE TAKING OVER!

Yellow Ostrich - WHALES

I love this album. It really brings me back to the things that got me back into rock in the early 2000s.

Mister Heavenly - Charlyne

Do you like Man Man when they created pop songs with melodies? Well there is a good chance you will like these guys.

Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks - Tigers

Another solid solo work from Pavement's former front man. When does he become more known for his work with The Jinks than Pavement?

Boy & bear - Feeding Line

I don't know much, but I know I like this album. According to the main source for lazy Bloggers, Wikipedia, they are from Australia, they recorded this album in Nashville and their single "Mexican Mavis", was featured on 90210 episode "Nerdy Little Secrets"

Arcade Fire feat David Byrne - Speaking in Tongues

Not happy they did this so soon. I thought the original version of The Suburbs was about as close to perfect as you get. Why release a Deluxe version of the album just a little over a year after it was originally released. Also, the original version of the album ends beautifully. I think they should have just released a B-Sides or an EP.

Eternal Summers - Pogo

I like this song, but it's never a good sign when there is a Taiwanese film by the same name that you probably named yourself after that is more popular on Google than your band that is currently active. I hope they aren't paying people to help them with the band. Good album.

Fruit Bats - Dolly

Really neat album. I've learned to quit reading comment sections. Here was my favorite on Rdio from this album from Marshall Preddy, "The best Shins record in a long time." I'm not sure if that is sarcasm? But the only ways they are related is from the fact that they both have been on Sub Pop and that they toured together. Though I could be wrong since I get all my info from Wikipedia. Why doesn't anyone comment on my blog?

The Drums - Money

Just saw Death From Above 1979 this past month. They opened up for them. Apparently New Yorkers have a weird relationship with this band. I enjoy their pop sensibility even if they don't like New York music fans (I don't like them much either).

The Rapture - How Deep is Your Love

Not the best Rapture song, but solid and nice to see that they are making new tracks. Hopefully any future album has some nice jams. I do like that they have gone back to their roots in production.

Hercules and Love Affair - My House

Always down to promote 90s style House production. They also put on one of the best live shows I have seen in the last 5 years.

Jamie XX - Far Nearer

Who would have thought that when we interviewed The XX that the quietest one would grow up to be the one with the loudest musical voice. I am very much enjoying watching him grow as a producer. For more be sure to check out his Radio 1 Essential Mix.

M83 - Midnight City

If this is what happens at midnight in an M83 world I am scared. Pretty pumped for the whole album.

#STUPIDFACEDD - Wallpaper.

OMG YALL The web has destroyed the youth! #ROTFL #GETOVERYOURSELF

JAY Z and Kanye West - N***as in Paris

I will be posting about this and the Lil Wayne album next week, so I won't say much.

T.I. - We Don't Get Down Like Yall

The King is back and rapping over mediocre beats. I wonder if Jay Z and Kanye are watching his thrown?

Lil Wayne - MegaMan

Post coming soon

Nas - Nasty Nas

I think having Nas follow the last 4 songs really adds the point that Hip Hop is dead and the Rave has taken over.

James Pants - Incantation

Just to warn you, the music will be more chill and wavier from this point on.

I Break Horses - Load Your Eyes

This was an unexceptionally beautiful album.

Active Child - Playing House

I like this album a lot too.

Dom - Damn

Check out the review I did for this EP. You see, I do write stuff for this blog!

Bombay Bicycle Club - Lights Out, Words gone

Awesome to have a new album from these guys. I figure this is a great way to end the playlist.

Here is the Rdio link for this playlist and here it the Spotify link for this playlist. I have a few more songs on the Rdio playlist that I don't have mentioned here or on Spotify. Spotify didn't seem to have all the songs. Here are four other reasons I like Rdio better than Spotify.

FILM REVIEW: The Big Uneasy

2011-08-18T12:28:00.006-05:00

Harry Shearer’s new Hurricane Katrina documentary, The Big Uneasy, is not a good “film” . . . technically speaking. Shearer is best known for two things – his many characters on the Simpsons and being the bass player for Spinal Tap. What he’s not known for is documentary film making, but he’s not claiming to be an expert. At the end of the day, a documentary is only as good or as important as its subject, and the story The Big Uneasy tells is very, very important.

As a critic, I have to address the film’s problems, and it’s easiest for me to do it all in one go. For his personal narration, Shearer inexplicably places the camera what feels like six inches from his face, it’s both awkward and off-putting. The film is far too dependent on voice-overs (and no, the multiple celebrity cameos don’t help). There’s several obvious-to-the-point of clichéd visual metaphors. The John Goodman “Ask a New Orleanean” segments are great for breaking up the heady content but poorly executed. The variety of interviewees is pretty shallow. It’s arguably 15 minutes too long. And while there’s no shortage of technical shortfalls in the film, it’s still worth seeing (today, tomorrow, or whenever you get the chance). Why? Because it is arguably the most important post-Katrina documentary that’s been made.

I’m a former New Orleanean and was living on Jefferson Avenue when Katrina rolled in. Following evacuation I was back in the city by December, and the year following was one of the most impressionable in my life. Thanks to my personal investment, coupled with working in film and television, I’ve seen just about every documentary on the storm or city since. Many have been good, some have been great, but few have had much to add other than more gut-wrenching personal stories. So perhaps the highest praise I can offer The Big Uneasy is that it does have a unique story to tell. At it’s heart, it’s a film that’s less about Katrina and more about the mind blowing incompetence of the Army Corp of Engineers.

Shearer consciously refrains from the human struggles and despair so well covered by Spike Lee and Treme and a dozen other films. Instead, Uneasy works just one central thesis – Katrina was NOT a natural disaster. The film opens with a 3D model explaining the hour by hour levee failures and progression of water flooding into the city. From that moment forward the viewer is bombarded with facts, numbers, technical information and stories of bureaucratic incompetence of the most stunning sort.

There’s so much information in the film that it’s laughable to try fitting it into a single review. What I will say, is that for all the numbers involved and soil analysis and technical detail – it’s a compelling story. The history of the Army Corps of Engineers is overflowing with corruption, but the senate won’t address it because Corps projects mean big money and jobs for constituents. The Corp either saw or should have seem what happened during Katrina from a mile off (I’m not sure which option is more disconcerting), but refused to “look back” following the storm. Thankfully, a team of scientists who funded their own post mortem of the levee system that unequivocally found the Corps was at the heart of the problem. It’s scary. It’s disheartening. It’s the truth.

In the Q&A following last night’s screening at BAM, I asked Shearer why he’d decided to enter the crowded arena of films that had already chimed in on the subject. He answered:

“I’d talked to a lot of the people in the film on my radio show. I’d written about the levy failures for the Huffington Post . . . I’d done my part. Then I was in London the first time President Obama visited the city. He was giving a press conference when he called the flooding “a natural disaster.” It just wasn’t true, and I asked myself, what do people do when they want to reach a mass audience on an issue like this? They make a feature length documentary.”

And that sums up the film. Shearer saw a topic that was being ignored and used his influence to talk about it honestly. The Corp botched the job. The scientists who spoke out about it were intimidated, discredited, and in several cases fired by their universities (let’s just say LSU isn’t a bastion of academic freedom). Despite all The Big Uneasy’s flaws, it’s hard to not fall in love with a project so passionate about what it’s trying to say.

The Big Uneasy is available on Video On-Demand around the country, as well as for sale on Amazon.com. The producers are doing their best to spread the word, so do your part and tweet about it (@thebiguneasy), Facebook it & talk about it.

Mat Newman lives & writes in Brooklyn. Follow him on twitter @mtnewman or check out his website.

Static Television 503 now online!

2011-08-10T07:20:00.004-05:00

I am trying to keep rocking and rolling for you. Here is the latest episode that will hopefully be on the air by the end of the week. This episode is definitely for the more emotional viewers out there. I didn't really plan on that; I just laid it on the timeline, and realized it was going to be a somewhat moody show.

I am shooting an interview tonight, and I have a few planned for later this month. So, I will have some interviews heading your way in some upcoming episodes. I hope you enjoy this one! Playlist is underneath.

Static Television Episode 503 from Static on Vimeo.

Playlist is in the order it was played:

Bon Iver - Calgary

J Mascis - Is It Done

Alela Diane - Desire

The Horrors - Still Life

Thurston Moore - Circulation

Dum Dum Girls - He Gets Me High

Friendly Fires - Hawaiian Air

REVIEW: Dom - Family of Love EP

2011-08-09T10:00:00.001-05:00

I think Dom to me will always be associated with the Summer. With their use of distorted guitars and simple keys, they are keeping me trapped in the heat that is currently sweeping the nation. They also layer very simple lyrics over these rhythms that harper on simpler times when the small things felt important. When I listen to them and close my eyes I can hear the children running around me on the beach with the waves crashing in the background. I can feel the heat raising and the house party from the night before that I stayed an hour too long at in order to try and get that cute girls number. Honestly, who doesn't want to feel like they are living those moments all the time.

I heard Dom's first work, Sun Bronzed Greek Gods, a few months back as spring was first cracking, and the anticipation for the ocean and back yards was rising. Starting with the first track, Jesus, I knew I would enjoy BBQing to this album for many months. So, when I was asked to review their latest work, Family of Love, believe you me, I was excited. They did not disappoint. They have sticked to what worked for them on their last EP.

Dom's second EP plays to the script of a lot of bedroom producers. Make a record, go on the road, then take said touring band into the studio and lay down a new record in an actual studio. Despite adding more influences to his sound, this album stays true to what worked so well in Sun Bronzed Greek Gods. They also hired a legitimate producer, Nicolas Vernhes, that would compliment their sound. Nicolas has worked previously with the likes of Animal Collective, Deerhunter, and Björk.

This EP, too, like it's predecessor, allows me to feel like I am stepping away from my day to day and just enjoy what Dom is bringing to the table, and isn't that why a lot of us got into music for. A form of escapism? We, now a days, get too wrapped up in what is the hottest thing on the web, who can we gawk at online today and subconsciously worrying how we can separate ourselves from everyone else. Stepping away from all the pretentiousness that exists in this world isn't easy. I think a good artists allows for us to do that. I hope Dom is able to continue their string of strong works and help me to continue to get over myself.

The Family of Love EP is out today. Here is the first single, Damn.

Dom - Damn by StaticTelevision

Upcoming tour dates:

8/12 Bangor ME, KahBANG Festival

8/26-27 St. Louis, MO LOUfest

REVIEW: Beirut - The Rip Tide

2011-08-08T16:04:00.008-05:00

Nothing says summer more than a light, airy Beirut album pressing its lips on your ear. You can always rely on them to be delicately romantic and dancily instrumental. The sweet crooning of Zach Condon, the only good thing New Mexico ever gave us, matched with Balkan folk horns makes me want to put on a long, billowy skirt and kick off my shoes.

Apparently tinkering with fewer instruments this time around, Condon decided to stick with trumpet, ukulele, and piano on this album - instead of picking up a new instrument at every turn. These days he wants a little more clarity in his approach, fewer decisions to make. Until I read about this however, I hadn't noticed at all. I'm sure I heard many of these tracks in concert and while I knew they weren't familiar they fit in perfectly with their catalogue. I definitely recognize Goshen from their performance in McCarren Park this summer.

I've heard this album described as never running away with itself. They say Condon didn't use as much self indulgent instrumentation this time. I call shannanigans. I'm overtly intolerant of over-instrumentation, it puts me to sleep. Move that beat like you're moving a plot. That being said, I've never found Beirut to be anything but manageably instrumental. The trumpets, mandolin, flugelhorn and euphonium build, dip, bend, and soar. Never extemporaneous, they're undeniably the engine to Beirut's sound.

Beirut - Santa Fe

Other reviews say this album is more synchronized, Condon is finally giving us a more focused sound. More nonsense. What's happening is they gave us another incredible album and more folks are finally catching on. They like it and can't figure out why they didn't like it sooner. Condon was always incredible, these reviewers are just slow.

And, of course, the more people like Beirut the less Pitchfork will (went from Flying Club Cup's 8.0 to 7.7 for The Rip Tide). In their review of The Rip Tide, they seemed so bored they could barely even be bothered to talk about the album or the band, running off at the mouth about how everyone they liked, Owen Pallett, Arcade Fire, just aren't the same anymore ::sniffle:: From A Sunday Smile to Goshen, we're not dissatisfied at all.

Fun-fact: Beirut is huge in Brazil. Their song Elephant Gun was regularly played on a series called Capitu. Tribute bands sprung up all over and went Beiruting in the Square "Beirutando na Praça." In August 2009 tribute bands played on the streets in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Recife, Salvador, Curitiba, and Lima. It was, obviously, a beautiful thing:

Personal Fun-fact: I fell in love with my boyfriend of 5 years to Gulag Orkestar summer 2006. I think the fact that I introduced him to it scored me HUGE points.

Whole album The Rip Tide is streaming on NPR this week, aren't you lucky?

Sarah Rae is a freelance writer andfiction editor for Prick of the Spindle. She lives and writes in Brooklyn. www.sarahrae.net

Photos: Crystal Antlers at Glasslands

2011-08-08T15:00:00.004-05:00

Ran straight from the Body Language and Phone Tag show right to Glasslands to catch LA's own Crystal Antlers this past Saturday. This was a night where I really love Brooklyn. It was even darker at Glasslands than Cameo.

Head to our Picasa page to see the rest of the pictures I took at this show. Here is an interview we did with Crystal Antlers a few years back now:

Also, here is one of my favorite songs by them:

Photos: Body Language at Cameo

2011-08-08T10:00:00.002-05:00

I saw two shows on Saturday night with our writer here, Mat. The first show was at Cameo here in Williamsburg. We went to see Phone Tag and Body Language. I was suppose to interview them both, but it started raining. I'm hoping to get that sorted out this week. Phone Tag is doing some interesting stuff, and I'm excited to see them grow as musicians, and Body Language is a very exciting Brooklyn band that was very awesome to see in that space. Here are the pictures I took, it was really dark and I haven't invested in a flash yet. Crystal Antlers' photos to come in a bit.

PHONE TAG

BODY LANGUAGE

Head to our Picasa page to see all of my pictures from this show. Here is Body Language's latest single off their Bandcamp. Great beats and voice. I'm telling you, keep your ears pealed for these guys. I don't even this single here gives them justice. Their live show was fantastic.

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://bodylanguage.bandcamp.com/album/social-studies-single"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Social Studies - Single by Body Language&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

And just because I love you guys so much, here is the Phone Tag's latest work from their Bandcamp.

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://phonetag.bandcamp.com/album/look-and-feel-2"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Look and Feel by phonetag&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

REVIEW: Loomis - Vellocet EP

2011-08-04T14:58:00.007-05:00

I may have moved to New York two and a half years ago to try and achieve my life long goals, but I think all my girlfriends that I have had up here can attest that the New Orleanean in me has never left. Though, as I think for many people like myself who were born and raised there around the same time, my memories of New Orleans are kind of skewed. Having gone through a traumatic event like Katrina has my mind playing tricks on me. What was life truly like before the storm musically? I know what my memories are, but what were the realities?

Some of my fondest memories are that of seeing the Teeth open up for Of Montreal in the side room at Twiropa. That side room to me has so many great memories. The first time I ever saw TV on the Radio was there. I also remember seeing so many CRAZY bands at the Mermaid Lounge. Names that to this day when I think about them makes my head spin. But, do you know what is another memory? I usually remember no one being there. With a few exceptions (Interpole well after their critical album selling out the main room at Twiropa with Blonde Redhead and Band of Horses opening up for Iron and Wine come to mind), most of these shows had more space to dance and move around than you could imagine. All the music that I knew that did well were punk shows and rap concerts.

Maybe this is all a farce. Maybe my mind is just playing tricks on me. Just perhaps I am perceiving the past as a time with no problems, and my current adulthood as a world where there is nothing but work and bills.

What does this have to do with the current Loomis work, you ask? Well, a little. Smiley With A Knife's Patrick Bailey's most current solo EP, Vellocet, is a solid piece of bedroom producing work that was done in a moment, and captures it magnificently. It has very nice soundscapes along with solid production that fits in the vain of a lot of the 'Chillwave' stuff going on these days: from the likes of Toro Y Moi, Washed Out and Panda Bear to name a few. But, you can go listen to his work on Band Camp to find all that out for yourself.

The thing that blows me away are the sounds that are coming out of New Orleans. I mean, if no one was at these said shows before Katrina, how did it all come about? No disrespect to the fore fathers of New Orleans rock, but I think the scope of what is being done now a days is fantastic. What this Loomis effort by Patrick is an example of is that music coming out of New Orleans now is striving for more intelligence. Before, it felt like a lot of party music. Which, I feel like has a time and place, and that no one does it better than New Orleans; but, it is nice to see musicians striving for more.

Ever since Katrina, the transplants have brought outside influences and energy to the 'Big Easy,' which I felt had been stagnent for years. These were people who came to New Orleans with a goal to help, fell in love and have now stayed to try and really make a difference in a place that is appropriately called "the city that care forgot."

When I moved back from Austin, where I evacuated to, I set out to make a difference. I wasn't going to move back, and just be a part of the problem of stagnation. But, what did I know? I couldn't build houses, or fix rooftops, or even console people. Being young and fresh out of Loyola all I knew was that I had a degree in television production (BRING IT BACK LOYOLA), and a passion for music. So I started Static Television with the help of a lot of great people and consequently I feel like what we created has helped shape the music scene of Southern Louisiana along with amazing artists like Loomis, Caddywhompus, The Generationals, Hurray For the Riff Raff, and The Givers, just to name a few, in a new direction that it has never been. It's been an amazing feeling and I hope everyone one that is a part of the scene down there totally is aware of the amazing energy being felt from all the way up here in Brooklyn. Keep doing it, so you can inspire me to keep doing Static. And, go out and support the musicians around you!

For more on Loomis go to his Band Camp. Here is the single off Loomis' Vellocet EP

4 Reasons Rdio is better than Spotify

2011-08-02T11:00:00.005-05:00

I first off want to say how awesome a world we are living in is. Just a little over a decade ago the music industry was talking about suing people for trying to download music, and now for only $5 a month you can get pretty much unlimited access to any song you can imagine ($10 to get it on your phone).

It seems like all the talk these days is about Spotify, the mysterious music streaming app from Sweden that has just made it to this country. I, being the techno nerd that I am, had to jump on it and get the paid version, despite the fact that I have been a pretty dedicated Rdio user for the last 4 months now. So, over the past 2 weeks I have been trying to justify jumping ship, and in the end I kept going back to Rdio. Here are 4 specific reasons why I think Rdio is a better option for you cloud based music library.

1. Music Discovery

What is a social music platform if it doesn't help you discover new music. That is totally what Apple's Ping was suppost to be, but that has yet to show any signs of it doing anything worth a damn. And with Spotify already taking traction in this country, the likes of Apple and Google could be playing from behind for the foreseeable future. Now back to Spotify, the whole social aspect of the program is based on your connections on Facebook (Mark Zuckerburg is an investor of Spotify); and this to me is a problem when it comes to discovering new music. Let's be honest, most of your friends are lame when it comes to music. If you are actually reading music blogs and digging for music on a regular basis, you are already more informed then a majority of your friends on Facebook about who are some of the exciting acts around today. Unless you are friends with writers at Pitchfork or Gorilla vs Bear, odds are your friends will be making playlists based around their long time love of System of a Down. This is why when I was playing around on Spotify I realized I had a greater tendency of going with classic albums and songs. With Rdio I follow people I am not usually friends with on Facebook: Pitchfork, Paste Magazine, Vice Magazine, along with a bunch of record labels. This leads to me seeing what people that live and breath music are listening to; and lets be real, their tastes are way better then that old high school buddy of yours who you used to go to hot topic with back in the day.

2. Better Stream

When I open up Rdio, the first thing I see are 12 albums that all the people I am following are listening to. I see what albums people can't get enough of at that very moment. Albums come and go throughout the day. If I am getting tired of the new Washed Out or Theophilus London album I just start to scroll down and see what the people I am following are adding to their collection, or what playlist they are making. I then see that Fat Possum Records just added an old Hank Thompson record and then all of a sudden I am on a huge old school country kick. Now on Spotify, only unless your friends are active enough to actually have something to say about how they just found out about Kid Cudi, you have to click on each of your friends and look at their playlists to see what they are getting into these days, and than once again point number one comes into play.

3. Easier to hide

Being that all your friends are going to be connecting with your Facebook account, all your friends will now see how obsessed you really are with those old Maria Carrey albums (not that there is anything wrong with that). It is much easier on Rdio to hide behind the masses of the stream and the numbers.

4. Not your typical music player

What people rave about with Spotify is how much it feels like ITunes. I understand that familiarity is something that is nice, but just because it's a layout we are used to doesn't mean it is better for what is going on today as far as trends. ITunes was totally groundbreaking when it came out almost 10 years ago now, but it may not be best for how we take in media these days. I love the way Rdio feels like a Twitter stream. Living in the cloud makes everything feel more disposable. And what I am into now will change in the next day, and so on. So, to see it all as a stream I think fits more with the way we take in music rather than a library that just sits there and reminds you of your past mistakes in music. Rdio has all your music saved that you choose to save, but the stream is what dictates what you are usually listening to, not your library. And, to me, that is what a social platform built around music should be. If you want a library of music, buy vinyl.

Why Spotify will win

As a whole these two music streaming aps are pretty identical. They both provide a majority of the same music, they both allow for you to build playlists and do so as a group, you can sync them both with the music already on your computer, and they both allow you to sync music to your phone (for $10 a month), but there are two major reasons why Spotify will end up winning out. First off, there is a free option. You can sit through ads and a lack of selection and not pay anything to listen to your friends playlists. Rdio has no free options. It will cost you at least $5 to get into that club. Also, no party is fun when you are by yourself. The fact that you can easily share your playlists with your friends on Facebook with Spotify, it will be a more appealing option to your average music listener; which, I fear will draw people away from Rdio causing my beautiful home page to not be as good. And, don't underestimate the power of the hype wave that Spotify has been building up over in Europe as this magical Ap and the fact that most people I talk to have never even heard of Rdio.

Now, by no means are these the only two services out there to stream music, nor in the future. And ,I am sure they will both grow in to drastically different services as time goes on. The unfortunate thing is I feel I will be paying for both for the foreseeable future. So, if you are out on any of these two sites, try and find me!

Our Best of July Playlist

2011-08-01T10:07:00.004-05:00

Eleanor Friedberger - My Mistakes

Check out my review of the entire album here.

Wilco - I Might

Excited to hear the whole album, but then again I am a Wilco fan boy.

Jessica Lea Mayfield - Blue Skies Again

Came out a few months back, but I just heard it the other day. Really solid album.

Little Dragon - Ritual Union

Get to know this band! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this album.

Kisses - Midnight Lover

Don't know much about these guys, but I enjoyed the album.

Washed Out - Amor Fati

Easily the best album of the month and will be in the top five at the end of the year. Check out Sarah's review of the whole album here.

Memory Tapes - Wait In The Darl

Another great album from this month. Something about Summer and strong pop records.

Obenewa - Put Yourself in My Shoes

An up and coming British vocalist. I hope to hear more from her in the future.

Mux Mool - Heart Attacker

Another solid work from one of the best producers working right now.

Shabazz Palaces - Are You? Can You? Were You?

Really great hip hop album. Extremely well produced.

Jay Rock - Hood Gona Love It

Don't know too much about this one, but I enjoyed the album. Does that me hood?

Frank Ocean - Novacane

New Orleans born and lives now in LA. He is the main producer of Odd Future. Need I say more?

Theophilus London - Last Name London

Are you hip? Do you like hip hop that makes you dance? Do you like to party? Do you dress well? If you said yes to any of these questions, odds are you will need to get over yourself and you will probably like this album.

Lil Wayne - How to Love

I mean I shouldn't have to say how much I love Wayne. Lets just say that I can't wait for the Charter IV.

Big Sean - Dance (A$$)

Yep, guilty pleasure...Mostly because the first concert I ever went to was Vanilla Ice and En Vogue opening up for MC Hammer at the Lake Front Arena. I HAVE STREET CRED!

The Glitch Mob - We Can Make The World Stop

Love these guys.

Miami Horror - Sometimes

Another album I just happened upon on Rdio. Don't know much about them, but a solid album.

The Black Ghosts - In The Darkness

Happy to have his voice back in my consciousness.

Top 5 Albums of July:

Washed Out - Within and Without

Little Dragon - Ritual Union

Memory Tapes - Player Piano

Eleanor Friedberger - Last Summer

Theophilus London - Timez Are Weird These Days

If you want to hear this playlist on Spotify click HERE and if you want to hear this playlist on Rdio click HERE.

Season 5 Episode 2 now online

2011-07-27T15:34:00.006-05:00

Static 502 from Static on Vimeo.

I'm trying to get into a rhythm with these shows. I know I haven't put any interviews in them, yet (I have a few in the can that I haven't don anything with), but I feel like keeping the momentum going is good for the both of us. Here is the track list for the above show. As usual they are in order of appearance. Hopefully it will be on TV in the coming week; my internet is disgustingly slow.

Bikini - A Cheerleader

SBTRKT - Wildfire

Yeasayer - I Remember

Gang Gang Dance - MindKilla

Parts & Labor - Echo Chamber

Titus Andronicus - No Future Part Three

I saw Mother Mother last night and took some Pics

2011-07-26T16:11:00.005-05:00

I am quite possibly the laziest photographer in the world. Don't tell the music publicists that, or else I wouldn't be able to get in to see rock bands from Canada like Mother Mother. I was surprised to find out that there are people out there that don't like Canadians. Are you one of those people? Why? I have nothing against them, they are kind of like the quite kids in class that just did their homework and married their sweetheart and lived a nice simple life. Unlike us Americans who strive to be the high school quarterback and date the prom queen. We can't all be winners, can we?

And here is the single off their latest album Eureka! on Last Gang Records.

FILM REVIEW: The Myth of the American Sleepover

2011-07-22T09:43:00.011-05:00

There’s a pivotal moment in The Myth of the American Sleepover that’s as close to perfection as you can hope for in a movie. Maggie (played by the young and talented Claire Soma), a girl about to start her freshmen year of high school, sits in a bathing suit flirting with a boy three years her senior. They’re talking life, sitting on opposite sides of the chasm between childhood and being teenager. It’s a beautifully executed scene, and goes a long way in saying what the film is really “about.” Where the twilight of youth and the start of adulthood come together, pause, and reflect on the greener grass of either side. At the end of the day (in this case, literally), it’s a film about that time when you’re a kid, but not quite. A teenager, almost; and how we’ll all be grown-up way, way too soon.

The Myth of The American Sleepover (debuting at New York’s Angelika Theater today) is the feature film debut of David Robert Mitchell. Michigan raised, he studied film in Florida before heading for the big time in Los Angeles. And despite relocating to the land of disillusionment, the film he’s shot is all about the wonderment of growing up in small town America. A love song to suburban Michigan youth from it’s first breath to it’s last.

The movie first began garnering attention at SXSW last year, where it was well received and won the prize for Best Ensemble Cast. Thanks to the momentum out of Austin, it went on to become one of only a handful of American films to show at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival . . . and deservedly so. A refreshingly earnest (and young!) ensemble cast consistently turns out the sort of minor-miracle moments that any veteran director would be happy to squeeze just one of into their films. Through a combination of lovely cinematography (from James Laxton, who also shot last year’s fantastic Medicine for Melancholy for The Daily Show’s Wyatt Cenac) and a great ear for honest dialogue, Mitchell finds about a hundred of them.

The Myth of the American Sleepover follows the story of a group of Michigan high schoolers (and three memorable collegians) through the last night out of summer. Incoming freshman and kids just moved from out of town alike, each of the cast are searching for who they’ll be in the coming year. Trying on new personality traits. Smoking and drinking. Chasing girls (or boys). Fighting. Making new friends. The storylines crisscross and weave and intersect, each of them coming to a satisfying climax the final morning of summer.

The film has been widely compared to Richard Linklater’s cult-classic Dazed & Confused, which is fair, but it’s far from a one-to-one comparison. Where Dazed is a film that thrives on boisterous characters and explosive moments of comedy (looking at you Matthew McConaughey), Sleepover hews closer to the work of Mumblecore directors like the Duplass brothers & Andrew Bujlaski, or even Sophia Coppola. Soft, understated, delicate performances and moments.

Mithcell realizes that because we’ve all lived through this weird period of growing up, catching these tiny moments in a bottle is enough to strike a chord. And that’s what makes it so great. He knows that the young audience he’s hoping to find is taking longer and longer to reach full-blown grown-up-dom. The Myth of the American Sleepover might be just that, but on the last day of summer, it sure doesn’t feel like it.

Mat Newman lives & writes in Brooklyn. Follow him on twitter @mtnewman or check out his website.

REVIEW: Eleanor Friedberger - Last Summer

2011-07-20T08:50:00.004-05:00

I am a sappy, reminiscent fool. I think a lot of times it puts me in bad situations and doesn't allow me to move on. Than again maybe we can only learn from our past in order to not make the same mistake again. It seems like Eleanor Friedberg of the Fiery Furnaces is having the same backward looking mentality at this point in her life an career.

I spent a lot of my late teens rejecting my parents music of rock and wanted a style of music that was different and my own. I subsequently fell in love with electronic music. It wasn't until college that I got back into rock and one of the first bands that jumped out at me was the Fiery Furnaces. Their live shows were amazing. They would play for an hour without stopping. I was so in shock, not knowing when to applaud that I just danced. And that is a trait that I loved about late 90s dance music.

Ten years later, Last Summer is Eleanor's first album not working with her brother. She is channeling her first years in Brooklyn. An age that I myself can't relate to, but the emotions she channels of newness and excitement of the beginning of a journey are all conveyed beautifully on this album. Eleanor worked with Eric Broucek, who usually works with dance artists on James Murphey's DFA recordings. Eric does a great job on helping make this into a timeless record.

I think Eleanor reached to a special place to create this album and did a magical job at it. It truly makes me want to go grab all my old Fiery Furnaces LPs and remember dancing at One Eyed Jacks.

Washed Out's debut album Within And Without

2011-07-15T16:02:00.003-05:00

Sub Pop released singer-songwriter-producer Ernest Greene's first full-length album on Tuesday and the chillwave glo-synth movement blushed and fawned.

Shut up in his parent's house in Perry, Georgia, 28-year-old Greene made his first music release in the summer of 2009. He referred to these recordings "mostly as a way to experiment with songwriting processes," but the great success of his Life of Leisure EP meant he was an obvious full-fledged virtuoso. After 2 years of touring, we have Within and Without leaving many of us awestruck, "Where did this guy come from?"

It's hard to call this synth-pop when there's so much more going on with it than just that. There's an early 90s PM Dawn hip hop vibe, Eyes Be Closed. That unmistakeable Balearic island beat a la Sade in You and I. All leading up to the ghostly, solemn and even romantic piano reverie A Dedication. Seraphic echoes are underpinned with loneliness and isolation making the experience is much like star-hopping. That being said, it could be considered so dreamy that it's sleepy-time music. This debut is overall utterly accessible, at times energetic, meditative, and relaxing. Have an ethereal summer, Staticheads.

Washed Out - "Eyes Be Closed" by Stereo/Pirate

Washed Out - Amor Fati by subpop

Freelance writer, novelist, and editor for Prick of the Spindle, Sarah Rae lives and writes in Brooklyn.

New Season of Static Has Arrived!

2011-07-12T09:36:00.002-05:00

I know it has been a long time since our last episode, but have no worry, the most watched music video show in Louisiana is back and we have added 2 more markets, Baton Rouge and Lafayette. We are planning a lot of exciting things for this season, but before we get ahead of ourselves here is our latest episode and play list.

Static S5Ep1 from Static on Vimeo.

Fleet Foxes - Grown Ocean
Low - Try to Sleep
Kurt Vile - Jesus Fever
Cold Cave - Villains of the Moon
Akron/Family - Silly Bears
tUne-yArDs - Bizness
Twin Shadows - At My Heels

Death Cab's new album Codes and Keys

2011-06-15T16:44:00.000-05:00

Although the first track echoes "Nothing's the same," don't worry. It's just the happier side of Death Cab for Cutie that we all know and love. Somebody said this album is proof that Ben Gibbard suddenly realized he's married to Zooey Deschanel and rejoiced. Just look at the upbeat track titles: "Stay Young, Go Dancing," "Underneath the Sycamore," "Doors Unlocked and Open." Hear lovestruck vestiges in lyrics like "She may be young but she only likes old things," "cause when she sings I hear a symphony," and my personal favorite the resounding "This fire grows higher."

Guitarist Chris Walla told Rolling Stone that Codes and Keys "continued to be fun to work on all the way to the end, which is seldom the case with any record. That has a lot to do with what the songs are about." Apparently, they continuously switched studios and took weeks off for family-time. A brilliant way to avoid getting mired in the process.

Mixed by producer Alan Moulder (My Bloody Valentine) there's a dubby influence, overlaid instrumentation, less guitar more synth. Sometimes coming off as dancy and other times mysterious, nothing can really dispense the folksy from their vocals. The sound may not bring anything new to the table as far as their own history. Many argue that this could be titled A Death Cab Compilation: Just the Happier Sh*t. But isn't happy-town the logical place to go after Plans (2005)? Besides the fact that it was released circa Katrina, that album is kill-yourself city. With all the longing in "Marching Bands of Manhattan," shouldn't we be happy for them? Frankly, it's relieving to know I don't have to worry about these guys. They're in a better head-space now. Whenever I hear "I Will Follow You Into the Dark," I go to my quivery-lip, I-miss-my-best-friend place.

Death Cab for Cutie - Codes and Keys by ATL REC

In related news, Bassist Nick Harmer also got married, but we don't know her. Drummer Jason McGerr just had a kid, which makes me wonder how he managed to even work on this...Whatever, my bet's on Zooey.

Freelance writer, novelist, and editor for Prick of the Spindle, Sarah Rae lives and writes in Brooklyn.

May 2011 Playlist

2011-06-02T10:16:00.003-05:00

Last month was crazy for me personally. Wrapped up working on 2 shows and than I went on a 10 day vacation that I just got back from. It has been tough to get back into the swing of things. Hopefully this post gets me rolling again. I plan on wrapping up a new show tonight.

Robyn - Don't F*cking Tell Me What to Do

I will be posting an interview soon with the Brooklyn artist Making Friendz. She told me how much she loved Robyn live so I had to check it out. I really enjoyed this album as a pop effort

Architecture in Helsinki - Contact High

Check out the wonderful review of this album by Sarah.

David Vandervelde - More Than You Can Feel

Check out the photos I took from his show at Brooklyn Bowl.

Robag Wruhme - Thora Vukk

Great mellow electronic music. An under the radar album from last month

Tyler, The Creator - Yonkers

Check out my review of this album.

Booker T. Jones - Everything is Everything

I deep down loved this album. Got me pumped for my southern vacation.

The Radio Dept. - Heaven's on Fire

This is off a compilation of singles from 2002 to 2010? Where the hell have I been? How have I not heard of this band. love, Love, LOVE.

Poly Styrene - Generation Indigo

This former lead singer of one of my favorite punk bands, X-Ray Spex, passed away at the end of April. Here is one of my favorite tracks off her last solo album that came out this year.

Man Man - Bangkok Necktie

Gang Gang Dance - MindKilla

Sloan - Unkind

The Lonely Island - I Just Had Sex

Wild Beasts - Bed of Nails

Company of Thieves - Oscar Wilde

Awesome voice. It was hard for me to choose just one song, but the web made it easy since this is the only good recording of them on YouTube.

Bahamas - Let the Good Times Roll

This album was on steady repeat in our office. And being most of us are from New Orleans we really related to this one.

Danger Mouse - Problem Queen (Feat Norah Jones)

Also, check out the review Sarah did of this album.

The Elected - Babyface

Foster the People - Helena Beat

Great pop dance record. Surprised how much traction this album has on Rdio. I would much rather go out dancing to this than lets say Lady Gaga. But that's just me.

Yelle - Que Veux-Tu

I am already seeing that June may top May, which is tough for me to believe. There are a lot of awesome tracks on here. If you are on Rdio follow us and check out our whole playlist where I also have some classic gems that I thought I should reserve for another time. If you aren't on Rdio, JOIN! You can follow us as well as Defend New Orleans, Park the Van and Off Beat Magazine for you New Orleans heads along with the likes of Pitchfork, Merge, and XLR to name a few. Get with the cloud people!! For 5 bucks a month, it's a steal.

Danger Mouse’s new album Rome: A Film That Exists Only In Static’s Mind

2011-05-19T15:37:00.008-05:00

Five years in the making Brian Burton, aka Danger Mouse, releases Rome, his soundtrack to “an imaginary film.” He paired prodigies Jack White and Norah Jones with harpsichord and a reunited Cantori Monderni of The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly fame. In collaboration with Italian composer Daniele Lupii (Sex In the City series) Burton recorded in Rome. The beauty of working with Luppi is that his music has been described as a barrel of Italian film-score cliché. He is the roast beef po’boy to Danger Mouse’s beef bourguignon. Working at Forum Studios, formerly a church where Ennio Morricone (The Good, the Bad and the Ugly; A Fistful of Dollars) composed music for 60s and 70s spaghetti westerns—the album hinges upon that influence, although we fight not to be transported to the American Southwest. The title is, afterall, Rome. Not just Rome, but pink neorealist Rome.

Now, reviews are mixed. Some people love it, “Hey, it’s real music. Not a Portishead remix.” Others hate it because they think it stands in Ennio Morricone’s shadow (and pees on it). But, apparently, these folks criticize creativity, whilst taking no care to be creative at all. This is a concept album about a movie that exists only in your head. Oddly enough, no reviewers talk about this hypothetical film. It’s like Burton gave us an album and a kaleidoscope, and everybody just threw the kaleidoscope away. Well, we didn’t. Let’s get creative:

Ground yourselves in the era. Film at this time moving into the more hopeful, bright-eyed Neorealisomo Rosa. Everything is going to be alright, even if Marcello fools around on you constantly. Things even get pretty funny. A la Divorce Italian Style, we poke fun at sacred things and laugh at ourselves. The representation of America’s patriotic and overtly righteous Wild West is fair game, rewritten to include James Bond elements that dominated the decade: violent blood-baths, dubious intent, torture, and sex (not love).

We open on a Technicolor sandy valley, but it’s not New Mexico, it’s Valle del Treja outside of Rome, like all spaghetti westerns. The “Theme of Rome” hustles a dusty, cowboy-hatted Jack White on his horse out of the hazy horizon and into plain sight. The drifter’s song, “The Rose With A Broken Neck,” is about his tragic loneliness. “Lonely I feel, lonely I bleed,” afraid even his death would go unnoticed because people only swarm for train wrecks and track marks. We can assume he’s probably a good guy, risking his life without much thanks, compelled to protect others despite reservations. Unshaven and dark, he wanders into a new town, probably eager to be noticed. The hopeful music box of the “Morning Fog” interlude introduces Norah Jones, our romantic interest. Full of longing in “Season’s Trees” she sings about her mundane slavish existence in a small, dust-bowl town. “Every girl gets a dream cast into reality, never seemed to bother me only until recently,” she dreams of running away. The gentle music box interlude “Her Hollow Ways” is a brief glimpse into her day-to-day as the prettiest whore at El Matador (remember spaghetti western). The instrumental “Roman Blue” is the coy introduction of our protagonist and love interest in the brothel-bar. Norah strolling down a staircase in a corset and to find the dirty, Navajo-blanketed Jack pretending not to notice the whole room intimidated by his out-of-town stirrups and gruff alcoholism. Her pimp, the Matador himself, notices her interest. He asserts himself by asking Jack not to where his gun inside, making sure the newcomer knows he’s the most important guy in town. The miffed Jack responds with “Two Against One,” apparently the tortured protagonist is fighting himself already “so what’s another one?” The winner of this pissing contest is unclear because it seems obvious Jack has a deathwish.

“The Gambling Priest” sits in the corner losing all his money to a couple 49ers. Drunk he shoots his mouth off to Jack about what a deadly sonofabitch Matador is, evil as the day is long. His money and influence has a hopeless hold on the town, keeping it the merciless, lawless, and poor.

Transition to Norah up in her room. Gazing out her window on the starlight desert. “The World” interlude with its expansive tinkering bells is her dreaming of a better a life, of the promise of possibility in the world at large. Maybe Jack is the change she has longed for, someone who can whisk her away. No sooner is she hopeful than she receives a beating in the slow motion “Black.” She descends into the void that is her enslavement, “And when you follow through and wind up on your back, looking up at no stars in the sky those white clouds have turned it black.” The double entendre referring also to the bruises he leaves on her, “When the last pain is gone and all that’s left is black.”

Presumably, Jack finds her in this state and goes after the Matador. An epic fight ensues and Black sprays nasty bits of Matador all over the place obliterating some of his cohorts and the brothel in the process. As he lies dying in “The Matador Has Fallen” he can hardly believe its finally come to this. He motions as if he wants to tell Jack something, but he has no time for last requests. Matador dies alone. “Morning Fog” returns and atop the stairs a frightened and black-eyed Norah appears. Chest heaving. Queue protagonist-love interest sex scene.

Unable to accept her new freedom and the possibility of a life out there, Norah sings “Problem Queen.” She’s in “a state of shock” and “it all seems a dream.” But she’s not alone anymore. The thumpy bass of the instrumental “Her Hollow Ways” is her champion’s reminder that whoring is all behind her now, Say goodbye to this hell hole. As they ascend the valley on his horse, “The World” introduces Norah to the rough yet rewarding wide open.

Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi - Rome (2011)feat. Norah Jones και Jack White (White Strippes) by muzzninu

Freelance writer, novelist, and fiction editor for Prick of the Spindle Sarah Rae lives and writes in Brooklyn.

VIDEO: Gardens & Villa - Black Hills.

2011-05-19T09:00:00.000-05:00

This is a great follow up for what I was talking about yesterday. This is a great video with a great mixture of enough action and drama to keep me interested, but not too much of a distraction that you don't pay attention to the song. Well done by the Ulysses//Onasis peeps who directed it. This song by the way is off of Gardens & Villa's debut album that will be out July 5th on Secretly Canadian. Can't wait to hear the whole LP.

Black Hills by Gardens & Villa from Secretly Jag on Vimeo.

You can grab the MP3 for "Black Hills" here: http://www.scjag.com/mp3/sc/blackhills.mp3

VIDEO: Bill Callahan - Riding for the Feeling

2011-05-18T13:00:00.002-05:00

Vice premiered this one. This is off Bill's new Album, Apocalypse, that I reviewed a few weeks back. This video was made by Archie Radkins and based on the art of Max Galyon. The video is pretty much one scene of a skier going over the mountains. I initially really liked this video because I like the idea of the simplicity of the action. It keeps me from being distracted by the video since the true purpose of a music video should be to support the song. So initially I was just wrapped into the song and lyrics. And being that I am a Bill Callahan fan boy I am more than happy to do. Too many music video directors try to draw attention to their abilities and forget who their client is.

However, a change in scenery would have been nice in this video to keep me interested in watching the video, otherwise what is the point in watching it at all. There needs to be a balance between not taking away from the song and keeping me interested enough to get to the end of the video. After that ringing endorcement, enjoy!

PHOTOS: David Vanderveld @ Brooklyn Bowl

2011-05-18T08:55:00.002-05:00

Got to check out David Vanderveld this past weekend at the Brooklyn Bowl here in Williamsburg. Had some good times. Always happy with venues that just let me bring the camera in. Not sure who the band was before David, but boy was I happy for them to get off the stage. I just felt like they were just throwing noise at me, so believe me I was happy to have David's psychedelic soul music come to the stage.

To see our whole photo album from this night head to our Picasa page. All photos were taken by yours truly, so if you want more information please email statictv (dot) press (at) gmail.com.

Tyler the Creator of Controversy

2011-05-11T11:49:00.006-05:00

One of my fondest memories as a child is that of my father going through my CD collection and being pretty upset about some of my choice of records. BG's Chopper City, Pimp Daddy, Outkast, Too Short, Master P...he just hated their lyrics and what they promoted. He thought that would have a strong impression on me.

My memory of me at that age is a blur. Maybe by choice. I am pretty sure I would not want to hang out with the younger me. I was probably an ass hole, naive and way too much into myself. Though I am sure if you ask some of my friends they would say I haven't changed much. And that brings me to Tyler.

Tyler, the Creator has just released his second album, Goblin, at the ripe age of 19. He comes with a lot of hype and attention due to his lyrics, though he doesn't get to this attention level without the quality of music that he makes being very high. Very often a lot of this can be forgotten when the focus is on his controversies.

A lot of the controversy derives from his choice of language and stories. Some may call him a homophobe, some may call him a chauvinist and some may just call him a lier. I lean more to calling him young and immature. What he is doing is what all the good rappers have done before him, telling stories. Most good story tellers must embellish in order to draw our attention. Our lives are not as exciting as we think. I just always wonder why it is that Rappers must be assumed and expected to live the life they proclaim over their lyrics. The world they talk about is the world that they perceive as cool and fun. And, who doesn't believe that most young urban skateboarding kids don't deep down feel the way that Tyler feels.

Words can hurt and cause people a lot of pain emotionally and can lead to physical harm once you degrade someone to a point where you don't feel like they are an equivalent human being. In a capitalist society, the most powerful way to quiet someone is by not supporting them or paying attention. My parents always told me that acknowledging the bully only empowers them to continue with what they are doing, because that means they have gotten your attention. If you are at the age where you have children or you still live with your parents than you probably shouldn't listen to this album. Also, if combinations of letters that make words that are placed in a combination make you upset you may want to start a CD burning session over this one.

I myself have listened to this album a few more times than I would normally have if it hadn't been for this review that I wanted to write. The language starts to get to me, but the beats are strong and the lyricism and cadence are uniquely delivered. After a while of derogatory words being thrown your way it just doesn't have the same impact and I just zone out all the words being said.

I look forward to watching Tyler grow because with time and success he could change into something that will propel his music into something that goes beyond the discussion of language and more about the whole body of work. His latest work is already showing a lot of growth in a year. He is openly having a discussion with his critics which is nice to see from a controversial artist. And the first way to get over a perceived problem is to be aware that you have said problem. At least that's what they told me at AA.

"Here is the number to my psychiatrist, tell him all your problems he is f**king awesome at listening" - Tyler, The Creator

The cutesy playground song of Architecture in Helsinki goes full-on bubblegum synthpop.

2011-05-10T14:07:00.001-05:00

The new album Moment Bends from the Australian quintet vacillates between soft rock epic and something that can only be described as New Age Caribbean. Touring in white tuxedos with iridescent cummerbunds apparently they stumbled into a time machine. The album’s influence is heavily 1980s.

Waiting to watch this band mature from the playfulness of In Case We Die (2005), it was unfortunately overtaken by bass and lazy hooks in Places Like This (2007). After the disparaging success of Phoenix’s Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (2009), something they feel to be their sound-cousin, Architecture has pulled out the works.

Glockenspiels and thumpy bass are replaced by electronica. Opening with the exotic Mr. Mister inspired flute of “Desert Island” followed by the bubble gum synth of “Escapee.” "WOW" stands out as the first Architecture to fully feature Kelly Sutherland’s voice in all its Belinda Carlisle beauty. Each has its own yesteryear underpinnings: “Everything’s Blue” is to Starship as “I Know Deep Down” is to Dream Academy. Then the mishmash of Prince and Chaz Jankel that gives us “Denial Style.” In the end this newer sound makes it more plausible that they would compare themselves to Phoenix, the most dancey being the singles “Contact High” and “That Beep.” Of course, all dancey isn’t created equal.

Something missing entirely: the horn. The electropop is bereft of its former symphonic horn and piano section. They can no longer be confused with Half-Handed Cloud. They’re not just alto-whisper-singing over a moderately stoned half-marching band anymore. Architecture in Helsinki has finally grown up, and now she is a sexy young woman with leg warmers and spiked booties. You know, one with a dancing montage where she puts on makeup in her underwear. Who doesn’t want that in their ear?

Someone referred to this album as “rebuilding the 80s,” in so much as you’ll like it as much as you liked the music from back then. Me, I like this album, but I’d rather have spikes driven into my ears than listen to Mr. Mister's “Broken Wings.” Architecture described their album as making music they themselves want to listen to. It’s more of a reimagining than a rebuilding. Never the less there’s that shameful love of dancing to “That Beep” because you know what you are doing is essentially Jazzercise.

That Beep by Architecture In Helsinki

Apparently the name of the band is arbitrary. If you ask them, they have no idea why they're named Architecture in Helsinki. In fact they didn’t play in Finland until 2007. Here’s what they weren’t referring to:

Freelance writer, novelist, and fiction editor for Prick of the Spindle Sarah Rae lives and writes in Brooklyn.

Our April 2011 playlist

2011-05-02T01:27:00.011-05:00

Like we spoke about last month, we in the Static offices are supper happy to be supporters of the website Rdio. I am getting super comfortable with the site and listening to a lot of new music. I think that may be a big reason why I think a lot of great music came out or it might be the fact that honestly a lot of great music came out this month. Here are the tracks that made my April Playlist.

Jay Electronica - Exhibit C

So upset that no one told me about this New Orleans bred rapper until recently when I heard about him listening to the New York Times pop podcast. This guy has the chance to be one of the best Rappers ever.

Peter Bjorn and John - Dig a Little Deeper

Their best work since Writer's Block
. They sound like they are more comfortable in themselves and their music.

The Naked and Famous - The Sun

Matthew Dear - Slow Dance (Todd Edwards Remix)

Daft Punk - Derezzed (Glitch Mob Remix)

This is off the third version of the Tron Soundtack and this is by far the best version.

TV on the Radio - Will Do (Switch Remix)

I only put the remix on here because I put the original on last months playlist. By far the best album of the month and could compete for the year.

Danger Mouse feat. Jack White - Two Against One

Delta Spirit - Delta Blues

Mother Mother - Getaway

Vivian Girls - Dance (If You Wana)

tUnE-yArDs - Es-so

This album is getting a lot of hype. I like it a lot, but it's lack of pop songs make me wonder about longevity. Very well done album though.

Dom - Burn Bridges

This short album gets me so pumped for BBQs in back yards in Brooklyn!

LOL Boys - Aisle Seat

This EP is really worth getting if you are into electronic music. Great layers and builds. This song awesome.

Oh Land - Sun of a Gun

This chick will be huge.

The Submarines - Where You Are

These guys are a lot of fun and remind me of what I love about Stars.

Blue Sky, Black Death - And Stars Ringed

An epic way to end an epic month. Lets get it on Summer!!! One month away from a new season of Static.

Why Bill Callahan matters

2011-04-22T09:29:00.005-05:00

When most of us hear the word Apocalypse we think of the end time and the rapture. We think of fire and destruction. But that isn't the whole story, is it? It's befitting to write about a thought like this after Easter. In the theory of the Apocalypse, a few believe that we must tear everything down in order to rebuild a new in a way that is for the better. What that better is is always up to interpretation and personal taste. It is of course usually the writer. History is written by the victors, while the future is written by the losers and the present is written by bloggers.

Bill Callahan's musical career has spanned 3 decades now and through that time he has learned on his own how to best find his sound. We as media folk are always looking for the next hot young sound to constantly feed our readers or viewers, but sometimes the best horse in the race is the older more experienced. You have to live to learn. You have to go through heartbreak to understand love and you have to have gone through some shit to understand the blues. Are you allowed to sing the blues if you are younger than 30? And that may be too young.

Through the last 20 plus years Bill (can I call him Bill?) has perfected his voice by becoming more comfortable with his vocal limitations and stayed true to his late 80s lo-fi roots. He has been true to himself musically and it has fully translated over the years to where we are now, with his 3rd "solo" record, Apocalypse.

I can sit here on my couch and tell you that this is the way to go about creating music. The long hard path to success and notoriety, and both of those things are so relative. Instead of the American Idol/N*Sync/Bieber route. Bill Callahan, by doing what we should all do, has found a way to make his mark with his undeniably strong, unique voice by looking inside and being true to himself. That is what we all want. Everyone we deal with to speak truly to us and hopefully they expect the same from us. And I think Bill puts it best, "you must reap what you sew, or sing"

Bill Callahan - "Baby's Breath" by One Thirty BPM

Panda Bear and TV on the Radio Get It

2011-04-13T08:30:00.008-05:00

Yesterday saw at least two much anticipated records released from highly successful bands in the oughts, TV on the Radio and Panda Bear from Animal Collective. I think that their differing styles leads to an interesting debate about popular music and if a band "gets it".

The new Panda Bear record, Tomboy, starts with a track titled You Can Count on Me, and if nothing else I can count on him being honest with himself and the style of music he brings to an album.

Panda Bear - You Can Count On Me by jp917

Tomboy is the follow up to the highly acclaimed Person Pitch that features some of the most ground breaking music of the last decade including Bros and Take Pills. It's definitely in my top 10 of the last decade. Which leads me to wonder as to what direction of an artist that he is going in, and weather he is one of the most genuine artists out there that honestly doesn't care about public opinion and only really cares about making music for himself.

Tomboy is one of the most beautifully crafted albums I have heard in a long time, with amazingly executed production along with Noah Lennox's use of his own unique voice to perfection. As a former chamber choir singer he no doubt knows how to execute in that department. My problem with the album is that there is no one track on it that I could point to and say that defines the album. It kind of just goes from track to track executing the game plan to perfection, much like a good role player in basketball i.e. Scottie Pippen. There is no one play by Pippen that you could point to and say that that is what made him a great basketball player. It is more about his body of work. Nor could he carry a team by himself (the bulls never got as far when Jordan played Baseball for those two seasons), but there is no denying that Pippen is one of the best Basketball players of all time.

In this sense, Animal Collective is the 90s Bulls and Noah needs the rest of the band to make a work that is more mass appeal. I am sure if I asked him he wouldn't be worried about accolades, he just wants to make quality music, which is totally admirable and there is no doubt that Tomboy will be a highly acclaimed record, but it is not a record that I will be playing a lot of around the house or at parties. Unless you are at a lame Williamsburg or WTUL party where some kid in the corner has control over the IPod and has to prove how much cooler his/her musical tastes are than yours.

Now on to a band that I wouldn't mind hearing around the house, in the car or at a party. The fifth album by Brooklyn based TV on the Radio is definitely one of their most solid records, and that is saying a lot. It is a vast improvement from Dear Science which seemed slightly lost. TV on the Radio has always been known as an amazing live band and I think they finally have fully translated that energy to a record.

I always believe there reaches a moment in a lot of artists career where you feel like they just "get it." I think of this as understanding what your strong suits are and running with it. We as fans are such a pain in the ass. A musician puts out a great record, than all of a sudden we are torn. We want them to bring something new, yet we loved them for the fact that they sound a certain way. And we also want those artists to be all ours through all of this, so we sometimes deep down don't want them to create a work that makes them mass appeal artists.

I first noticed this with Modest Mouse. After their record the Moon and Antarctica they seemed to understand what moved units. They then put out Good News For People Who Love Bad News and the world heard Float On. I felt like they "got it" in the sense that they couldn't keep making epic ballads to cowboys if they hoped to make an honest living and support a family with music. I am not saying that artists that I consider "getting it" like Modest Mouse and Arcade Fire are selling out. I'm just saying they understand what works for them to make them successful.

This is something that we all find in us as we mature in our careers. We start to understand what works for our suits and the smart ones stick to it and execute it to the best of their abilities. I think both the Panda Bear and TV on the Radio records exemplify this. They both know where their strong suits are and you can count on them both to bring it night in and night out just like the 96 Bulls that won 72 games.

I still think the TV on the Radio album is the stronger release this week, and here is just one reason why:

REVIEW: Toro y Moi at Music Hall of Williamsburg

2011-04-11T09:19:00.003-05:00

This is the only picture I took from last night. I did this while using the bathroom, mostly to remind me who the opening bands were. Isn't it arty?

Ran out of work to catch this show. The only thing I missed by getting there on time was a chance to drink. The opening band, Adventure, was about as boring as it comes. They create the kind of electronic music that makes me understand why people don't like machine created music. I heard 2 songs than went back to the bar.

We didn't even realize there were two openers. Being old men that my roommate and I are, this put a damper on our Sunday night. Second Band starts at 10:30??? I have work in the morning people!!! The second band was named Braids. They started out strong. They have a top notch drummer that lead into two cute ladies singing some layered harmonies in the vain of Panda Bear and Grizzly Bear (what's up with that by the way?). They of course don't have the same natural talents or experience, so I got bored with their lack of execution on an unoriginal styling. Guess where I ended up? If you guessed the bar, than you are correct.

Toro y Moi finally hit the stage at about 11, and now for my whole point of writing this post. What goes into picking an opening band? Do you purposefully choose bands not as good as you? Does this come naturally in the fact that these are the most talented bands that can't tour on their own as headliners? Whatever the reason, by comparison (and maybe due to my blood alcohol level) I was finally shaking my hips. Toro y Moi has a nice funky sound that with time can take their music to nice hights and maybe could open up for bands like Grizzly Bear and Animal Collective.

No, but seriously. It was hard for me to decipher what was going on and made me ask questions about music and art as a whole. If all I knew was top 40 pop music, would I walk into a Spoon show and declare them the greatest thing to happen to Rock and Roll? This is kind of like Plato and the Cave (I'm making a philosophy teacher smile somewhere). If all I'm exposed to in a night is mediocre music then by comparison the only decent band will come across as mind blowing, and will tempt me to go get their record on wax (which apparently I couldn't find available on my way out last night). Am I reading too much into this? I mean, I really like Toro y Moi and think they do new and interesting things, but the whole night made me wonder if through me not hearing enough or seeing enough art I am a truly informed "critic."-- Juxtaposition --

I was going to do a rant on people taking pictures on their cell phones for half a show, but I feel this review is scatter brained enough to add that to your plate. Another time I guess.

Now play these two songs back to back and tell me how great Toro y Moi sounds.

Actually after hearing this Braids song I kind of like it, though I recall this song being played early when I was still listening. I tried to find the first band, but low and behold they had nothing out there that I could post, except some knock off Static TV type show did.

Stop The Hate 2.0 (Start the Love)

2011-04-06T23:27:00.003-05:00

Our friends in Caddywhompus need your help. This came from their blog.

"Hey everybody,

I know we already stopped the hate once already, but when dealing with a crime so hateful and destructive as band equipment theft, you can never be to sure when it will unexpectedly strike again. I think you know where this going . . .
Chris Rehm’s pedal box was stolen on Sat. April 2 from outside our practice space at Fountainebleau studios. . . So in retaliation (and desperation), we’re going to throw a last minute benefit show at The Caddy-Whomp Haus (3027 Banks St.) this Saturday April, 9. Chris’ pedal box is really important to the Caddywhompus live show as you might have imagined and we really can’t afford to replace $1000+ worth of pedals and cables right now.

If you would like to make a contribution, please click below and know that we are very grateful to have you as a listener/friend.
Fielded from Chicago will also be performing on Saturday so please come out and show your support! The show will be a $5 dollar suggested donation and we’ll be selling merch and probably some coldrank. Starts at 7 p.m.!
-Sean

If you are able to, do go and support them. This is one of the worst stories I ever hear from bands. I think if I had to travel with my office and investments how nervous I would be on a regular basis. If you can't go and want to donate (every little bit helps), donate here.

Our March 2011 Playlist

2011-04-05T10:10:00.004-05:00

Happy April! I hear that the weather is to the point where shorts are the norm in New Orleans. Well lucky you. We here in Brooklyn are on the brink, and I am happy about this because that means 100 degree weather is further away.

I love the month of March: My birthday, Basketball starts to get really good, Baseball starts and SXSW gets us all excited about new music. This past month I started using the website Rdio which allows me to stream most music for only $10 a month (there is also a $5 option). Which for me as a huge music fan made me super excited. You can also follow other people including the likes of Spin Magazine, Vice, and Pitchfork to name a few and see what they are listening to. I could go on, but let me just say that it is a great service and if you are on it you should follow me and my monthly playlist. Here were the tracks that I was really digging this past month. Some new, some old and some weird. Enjoy!

Aloe Blacc - I Need A Dollar

Toro Y Moi - New Beat

Lykke Li - Little Bit

Ghostpoet - Onew Twos/Run Run Run

Adele - Rolling In The Deep

Florence + the Machine - Rabbit Heart (Raise it Up)

Lupe Fiasco - I Don't Wanna Care Right Now

The Dodos - Going Under

Fitz & the Tantrums - MoneyGrabber

Raekwon - Catalina

Generationals - Ten-Twenty-Ten

TV On The Radio - Will Do

Danny Byrd - Ill Behavior

Funeral Party - Finale

Princeton - To The Alps

Twin Shadow - Castles in the Snow

What were some of the tracks that you were loving on last month?