The Walrus is a Philadelphia-based music blog written by Michael. You may send me stuff through the send a tip page or email me. All mp3s should be sent as links. NO ATTACHMENTS, PLEASE. If I like your music, chances are I will write about it.
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mp3s on this site are for promotional purposes only. If you wish to have an mp3 removed please contact me.
Nid and Sancy, a Belgium based electronic duo who I lovingly posted about before, is back with a new single called “Kidzz” that uses the same swagger and simple songwriting approach as their previous effort and is equally as awesome.
Now the duo claim to know what the “kidzz” want–and what they want is noise, yet the sound here is more groove-based than noise-based. Oh, N&S wherefore doust thou jest? As the much-fabled Quiet Riot once so defiantly put it, “Come on, bring the noise!
Nid and Sancy’s debut full-length is due out sometime in January, but until then you can hit up their MySpace page for video clips and more tunes.
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Last Tuesday, one of my favorite bands, Germany’s The Notwist (officially pronounced “know-twist”) performed an awesome set in support of their new album The Devil, You and Me at The First Unitarian Church in Philadelphia. For those of you who are not familiar with their music, it’s a mix of glitchy electronics, looped melodies, guitar riffs and gentile vocals that come together to form a powerful and honest brand of post-everything pop.
After their set I had a chance to sit down and speak with lead singer and main songwriter Markus Acher and programmer Martin Gretschmann aka Console (who notably uses Wii sticks to control some of his electronics during live sets) about their music and other things…
For a limited time (one week only), Pitchfork is hosting the excellent 2006 S.A. Crary documentary Kill Your Idols, which tells the story of the infamous late-70s musical movement known as “No-Wave.” Those who helped to create the short, yet highly influential scene such as Lydia Lunch of Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, Glenn Branca of Theoretical Girls and Arto Lindsey of DNA (grab some DNA mp3s here!) reflect on the context and reasoning behind the complex music. The film also interviews seminal musicians who embody the spirit of the movement like Thurston Moore and looks toward the future with profiles of latter-day purveyors like the Liars. Highly recommended!
Watch the full doc for free now on Pitchfork.tv. (expired, but you should buy the DVD!)
In lieu of a weekly remix (nothing good this week), today we are tipping you off to a medical breakthrough! Well, sort of.
According to the American Heart Association, The Bee Gee’s 1977 hit song “Stayin’ Alive” has just about the perfect tempo for performing chest compressions during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Done talking shit about the Bee Gees? Yep, thought so!
Not only was French electronic duo KaS Product’s 1981 track “So Young But So Cold” the inspiration for a recent compilation entitled So Young But So Cold: Underground French Music 1977-1983, but we can only imagine that it was also an inspiration for bands like Adult and Jay Reatard’s Terror Visions.
It has an evil, mechanical sound with an air of desperation and it should’ve been James Cameron’s choice for the music in the Terminator club scene. Watch the clip here and download the song…see if you agree.
If you think this is awesome like we do, you should definitely check out So Young But So Cold: Underground French Music 1977-1983, available now from Tigersushi France.
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Directed by The Wilderness, the dizzying video for Passion Pit’s otherworldly song “Sleepyhead” was inspired by Moholy Nagy’s kinetic sculpture and is said to be based on the concept of “creating a light space modulator — a mechanical, kinetic sculpture that demonstrates and harbors movement and light.” Purrrrrty! Hope I don’t puke…
Download “Sleepyhead” here and check out Passion Pit’s new EP Chunk of Change, available now on Frenchkiss.
With enough fog to simultaneously get you in the mood and suffocate you, Philly’s Human People, became the first band to ever take the stage last Saturday at the city’s newest venue Kung-Fu Necktie.
Apparently weird, colorful blobs have taken over the world and their favorite song is Minilogue’s minimal electro track “Animals”. They also enjoy hitting themselves over the head and spitting into each others mouths. Typical blobs.
“Nooo requests!” shouted Colin Newman in his snotty, yet charming British accent halfway through the band’s blistering set at Johnny Brenda’s in Philadelphia.
I thought to myself, “Wait, no requests? Boo! Ok, how about just playing my all-time favorite Wire song “The 15th?” Sure, up to that point, the set was a well-paced mix of old and new material (including songs from Pink Flag!), but I needed to hear THIS song.
This past Friday I headed to see current buzz band Chairlift at Reward, the new shop spot in Old City Philadelphia. I’ll admit I had my doubts about how they would perform live (I’m always skeptical these days), but thankfully those doubts were shattered in a matter of minutes, once the band began their set.
Hopefully you like weird stuff like us and you were left in hysterics, as well as totally offended by Eric’s Flying Lotus video
Yes, the Philly-native is a hilarious, twisted dude and now he has lent his perverse directing style to the blog band of the year’s song “The Youth.” In the video, MGMT are replaced by kids dressed in 80’s-style recital outfits. Uh, just watch:
For more weirdness pick up Tim and Eric’s newest DVD, Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! Season 3 available here. MGMT are currently touring behind their acclaimed debut album Oracular Spectacular out now on Columbia.
Now those dark whimsies from the Catskills have brought on Krautrock-aficionados Fujiya & Miyagi to remix “Senses on Fire,” from their new record Snowflake Midnight. Its classic motorik beat and textured synths will easily get your head nodding. Yep, wherever he is, Klaus Dinger is smiling.
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