New Music: Quiet Village’s Badass "Circus of Horror"
Quiet Village’s “Circus of Horror”, from their awesomely drugged-out, dreamy album Silent Movie, has been buzzing around the blogs and for good reason. It’s a bad-ass, old-school funk groove reminiscent of 70’s and 80s exploitation/grindhouse film soundtracks. In fact, it would have fit in perfectly with one of Lucio Fulci’s Zombi classics or a movie I saw recently, the amazing 80’s biker schlock fest, 1990: The Bronx Warriors. Let’s put it this way, if you listen to it as you walk down the street you will instantly feel 1000 times cooler.
Silent Movie will be available via Amazon on May 13th. You can preview the album on their micro-site and pre-order it now on !K7 Records.
Quiet Village – Circus of Horror
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It’s Fun To Stay at The N-M-K-Y
I love when something I discover online makes me laugh out loud. Check out Gregorius and his Finnish version of the Village People’s “Y.M.C.A.” I no longer wonder what inspired Mike Myers to create his Goldmember character.
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What’s Your Function, Thomas Function?
Is it to write amazing songs like “Peanut Butter and Paranoia Jam”? If so, Thomas Function from Alabama, then I am your newest and biggest fan. I do have more questions for you though. How is it that your glam-stomping, garage-rock anthem is not being drooled over on every major music blog known to man? Seriously, the sound of the song’s hook and it’s lyrics, “We don’t just laugh last, we hope you die,” make the hairs on the back of my neck stand straight up. Do you cast spells and sacrifice virgins on the rock and roll altar? Ah, you’ll never reveal your secrets will you? Nevertheless, I’ll keep on listening…and loving!
Grab another track from Raven Sings the Blues. Pre-order their debut album Celebration, via Bomp Records.
Thomas Function – Peanut Butter and Paranoia Jam
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Paris 1919, 1973, and 2007
It’s no surprise that I don’t like much new music. I listen to a lot of it, but only find a teeny bit actually interesting. That being said, I understand the importance of historically contextualizing things for the kids of today. Enter Owen Pallett, aka Final Fantasy, best known for his one man violin mastery and his string arrangements for Arcade Fire, Grizzly Bear, Stars, and Bloc Party. In live shows he occasionally covers John Cale’s “Paris 1919″ as a solo (which is really really cool.) Case in point…
Here is the originator, Mr. Cale, in all of his symphonic glory performing the same song at my favorite venue in the world: Amsterdam’s Paradiso.
Paris 1919, Guts, Fear, and Vintage Violence are the only solo Cale records I know (other than his Velvet Underground/ Lou Reed stuff) but they are all really cool. These albums are extremely worthwhile additions to any music collection. Final Fantasy is worth owning too, he is no John Cale but his stuff is a lot more interesting than most. Amazon away!
Madonna is Colder Than An Ice Cream Cone
In a moment of weakness, I just watched Madonna’s new video for “4 Minutes.” The world’s best one-trick producer Timbaland has his obligatory introductory cameo, Justin Timberlake does his best Michael Jackson impression, and 49-year-old Madonna apes Christina Aguilera too a tee. Ugh, ugh, ugh. I generally like Madonna but after wasting “4 Minutes” of my life, all I can think about it what a self-absorbed egomaniac she has become over the years. Incidentally, that led me to think about my favorite song about icy, frigid, bitchy women.
Watch this if you are up for wasting 4 minutes of your life. I’m warning you, it is AWFUL!
New Sebastian Track, "Motor," Will Run Over Your Face
Seriously. This shit is awesome and fierce. Like a muscle car spinning its wheels back and forth on your skull, SebastiAn’s “Motor” is non-stop electro anguish that will leave the dance floor soaked in blood. Kinda leaves a fuzzy feeling in your stomach, doesn’t it?
The Motor EP is dure out on April 28th on Ed Banger Records.
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VISUAL NOTES: Pump The Letterpress Jams
Letterpress prints and upbeat tunes, my two life passions, have just been joined! Film producer Jörg Petri, electronic musician Michael Fakesch, and helpers from the University of Arts in Braunschweig, Germany have teamed up to create the official music video for “dot,” a single from Fakesch’s forthcoming solo album dos.
“dot”, however, is far more than just a catchy track or blip on the screen. The carefully crafted video is a stop-motion animation created from over 300 letterpress-printed sheets of text, punctuation, and geometric shapes. Some of the lyrics are written out in movable type, and other parts rely on rhythmically bouncing shapes. The official DOT website tells me that these are also going to be bound into a limited edition book!
The project is based on the idea of the dot as universal image and punctuation across the genres of music, printmaking, and written word.
Check out the stills and process photos below:
A Glad and Sorry Emotional Balancing Act by The Faces
Ooh La La, the last album from British rockers The Faces, has one of the most perfectly balanced songs of all time on it. Ronnie Lane’s “Glad and Sorry” is equal parts regret and confidence juxtaposed in flawless harmony. I can listen to this song over and over in a bittersweet haze of content. Warm instrumentation caramelizes the wistful lyrical musings into a meltable delicacy. Repeated playings of this song will result in cravings for overcast mornings, sunny afternoons, raw potatoes,and butterscotch candies.
Get some equilibrium in your life and pick up Ooh La La at Amazon. Harmony never sounded so stable.
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Indie-Pop Euphoria: Up For A Bit With The Pastels
The Pastels are an indie-rock/pop group from Glasglow, Scotland. Their simple sound is reminiscent of fellow Scots, The Vaselines, with the shimmer of Echo and The Bunnymen. Front man Stephen McRobbie mutters half-catchy poetry that sounds like Morrissey on painkillers.
Their 1987 debut LP, Up For A Bit With The Pastels features “Crawl Babies”, a song about reluctant adoration for a girl and a love-lorn victim who wants to “build her up as tall as a church just to watch her falling down”:
The Pastels’ Up For A Bit With The Pastels is available on Amazon. While you are at it, check out Domino Records for more Pastels’ releases!
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Is It Hot in Here or is it Just the Chromatics?
It’s both. I like everything that The Chromatics have done in the past year or two and this cover of Springsteen’s “I’m on Fire” from last year’s In the City 12″ is no exception. Their rendition is darker and more atmospheric than the original 80’s tune and it can’t help but sound even sexier coming from Ruth Radelet’s lips. Sorry Bruce, you are still the boss, but some things can benefit from a woman’s touch.
For more Chromatics tunes, head over to their MySpace page.
The Chromatics – I’m on Fire (Bruce Springsteen Cover)
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Philly’s Conservative Man Has My Vote!
I love me some power-pop, especially as the weather gets warmer. But what’s this Conservative Man? You want to soak it in psychedelic-shoegazy goodness? Yes, I’ll take some of that and go the non-conservative route, by having seconds!
There were two tracks by this Philly/New Hampshire project-adventure-band that caught my ear instantaneously. The dark and blissful “Mayday” soothes the head while it pumps Novocaine into your jaw. “We Want a Reception,” is full-steam-ahead rock and roll with acid-tipped spikes. Both songs reflect a healthy amalgam of influences, from The Move to The Stone Roses, but never surrender themselves completely to the past.
When it comes to politics, I am a staunch liberal, but when it comes to good, layered psychedelic pop, Conservative Man has my vote.
CM’s upcoming album Mirabel and the Hikikomori is currently only available at their shows. For those of you who live in the Philly area or are obsessed with road-trips, head to Doc Watson’s on April 19th to catch them in the act.
Conservative Man – We Want a Reception
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The Feelies are Coming! The Feelies Are Coming!
The Feelies are opening for Sonic Youth on July 4th, 2008 for the River to River Festival and the show is FREE! Hot damn! You do have to get tickets if you wanna go and 11 weeks notice should be enough time for you to plan accordingly. The link for the festival is wonky right now, but check back later and it should be up and running in a bit. Crazy rhythms, man…
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