I’m loving this breezy, chilled out Diplo version of Gucci Mane’s track from the upcoming Mad Decent’s Gucci Mane remix album. It has some really nice synths, and yes, a Mariah Carey sample.
What the…??? I’m not a fan of this his music, but this is pretty crazy/awesome. So apparently the “Andrew W.K.” from the albums was in fact an actor hired by the real Andrew Wilkes-Krier, his dad and some others in an attempt to create “the ultimate frontman”??? Read the story below and then click through to the video where he admits it:
Popular memes and subcultural rumours suggest that another person, known as “Steev Mike”, is behind Andrew W.K.’s music. The rumours began with the release of Andrew’s first album, “I Get Wet”, when many music critics and industry insiders accused Andrew W.K. of being a corporate rock think-tank construction. When a series of websites appeared in November 2004, supposedly created by someone calling himself “Steev Mike”, the early accusations began to ring of truth. Andrew WK’s website also appeared to have been hacked during the same time period.
In November 2004, Andrew addressed the issue for the first time – in an open letter posted on his official website, he wrote, “PLEASE DON’T BELIEVE STEEV MIKE. I USED TO CALL MYSELF STEEV MIKE A LONG TIME AGO AND IT’S NOTHING NOW. Someone is trying to confuse you and make me look bad.”
A 2000 article from UK magazine Dazed & Confused, which featured a full-page story on “Steev Mike”, but showed a photo and discography of “Andrew W.K.”. Steev Mike was listed as “Executive Producer” on Andrew’s first album “I Get Wet”. Three years later, Steev Mike was listed again on Andrew’s DVD “Who Knows”, and on Andrew’s third album, “Close Calls With Brick Walls”, as “Executive Producer”.
In March 2006, a 1992 Bulb Records 7″ 45 recorded under the name Steev Mike was discovered. The tracks on the record were found to be the same as Bulb band Couch’s first EP, except for the last track, which was Couch’s track Old Man instead of the listed track (Is This) Time Travel Man.
In May 2009 Andrew discussed the “Steev Mike” rumours once again in an interview with British magazine, Front. In the interview he states, “Steev Mike is the executive producer on my first album. The nature of how we presented my initial offerings caused some confusion, even though I tried to make it as straight forward as possible”. He also adds later in the interview, in reference to rumours of him being a “puppet” for a record label, “Most of what you’ve heard is exaggerated but the parts that are true may be more disturbing than you’d hoped”.
In December 2009 during a lecture at Madame Jojo’s in London, Andrew W.K. finally admitted that the Andrew W.K. persona was created by a committee including himself, his father, and other individuals. Claiming, “I’m not the guy you’ve seen from the I Get Wet album…I’m not that same person. I don’t just mean that in a philosophical or conceptual way. It’s not the same person at all.” He continued to say that people were auditioned to play the part of Andrew W.K. and that the music and performances were created, “in the spirit of commerce.” Finally, in an interview from the same video he says, “I thought it would be more interesting if my secret history was revealed after the fact rather than as a precursor”.
(via Wikipedia)
Watch the video interview here. Andrew W.K. admits the truth around the 2:00 minute mark. Ingenious or retarded? Both?
Here are some awesome new Christmas tunes, one is a collaboration between Crocodiles and Dum Dum Girls and the other is from Philly’s Blood Feathers. Both make great additions to your Christmas ‘09 playlists…
{MP3} Crocodiles And Dum Dum Girls – “Merry Christmas, Baby (Please Don’t Die)”
{MP3} Blood Feathers – “Christmas Will Help You Feel OK”
Head over to Stereogum for more Christmas tunes from Can, Lindstrom, Parenthetical Girls and more.
What exactly is Moonface? Well, judging by the “pay-what-you-want” EP teaser, Dreamland EP: Marimba and Shit-drums, it’s another outlet for Spencer Krug (Wolf Parade, Sunset Rubdown, Frog Eyes) to hook us up with interesting music…and he doesn’t disappoint. It’s a one song, 20 minute Marimba and drum exploratory that is beautifully written and more digestible than his other works.
The official EP will be out on Jagjaguwar on January 26.
Broken Bells is the new project from Danger Mouse and James Mercer, an extended collaborative relationship sparked by last year’s release Dark Night Of The Soul, which featured Danger Mouse working with an all-star indie cast including Mercer, Julian Casablancas and The Flaming Lips.
The first single, taken from their upcoming album, is a stripped down, melancholic tune with stellar production. Stream it below and download it from their website.
Stream: Broken Bells – “The High Road”
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I am currently in awe of the new Yeasayer album, Odd Blood. It may be the first great album of 2010 and the best new psych pop/dance album I have heard in a long time. This first single (download it below) and its accompanying video, with its acid-trip/apocalyptic imagery are incredible.
{MP3} Yeasayer – “Ambling Alp”
Odd Blood is out 2/9 on Secretly Canadian.
Wonderfully strange, like Robyn Hitchcock himself.
It’’s been awhile since we have heard from these Scandinavian Shoegazers, but they’re back with a brooding new track that is getting me stoked for their upcoming album S-M 2: Abyss In B Minor out 3/23 via 4AD.
Here’s the teaser for the upcoming biopic about the all-girl punk band The Runaways (Joan Jett, Lita Ford, etc). Not that much to go on, but it looks like it could be fun. The Runaways will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, and hits theaters on March 19, 2010.
Much thanks to Groovemine for inviting me to join in on their 3-part round-table discussion featuring well-respected music bloggers talking about the state of the industry and the influence of our medium. Follow the links below to find out what myself and the other bloggers had to say:
Heavy Metal Parking is a ridiculous peek into the REAL ’80s heavy metal lifestyle, captured prior to a Judas Priest concert in Maryland in 1986. Obnoxious, out of control and slightly offensive. In other words, a must see. Watch it above or on Hulu.
The Queen of Minimal Wave and East Village Radio DJ, Veronica Vasicka has created this superb mix for record label Stones Throw featuring great synth form the ’70s and ’80s. It’s a free podcast download and a precursor to the label’s upcoming Minimal Wave Tapes – a collection of underground DIY electronic music – due out in January.
Tracklist after the jump:
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