I wasn’t crazy about the Crocodiles debut Summer of Hate, but this new shoegaze/pop single, with its cleaner production and tighter songwriting, is giving me a big reason to be excited about these guys.
Neu!, the 70s/’80s German duo made up of former Kraftwerk members Klaus Dinger (deceased) and Michael Rother, made proto-punk, proto-trance music for a mechanical, yet gritty utopia. Their 3 albums – Neu!, Neu! 2 and Neu! ‘75 gave birth to the hypnotic “motorik beat” (a simple, repetitive groove that Brian Eno once referred to as one of the most important rhythms of the 20th century.) and influenced countless numbers of indie and electronic musicians.
Their unreleased (officially anyway) 4th album Neu! ‘86, which was plagued by internal politics, is now seeing the light of day thanks to a new, comprehensive Neu! vinyl boxset. Have a listen to one of the album’s more stunning tracks on Pitchfork’s site:
{Stream} Neu! – “Crazy”
More info about the Neu! Mega-Boxset can be found here. And if that’s not awesome enough, you can catch Rother and friends (Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth, Benjamin Curtis of School of Seven Bells and Aaron Mullan of Tall Firs)performing Neu! songs live this summer on a very short tour that includes Philly on 8/8! Check out the dates (including Philly) after the jump.
In February of this year, former frontman of Talking Heads, David Byrne, issued a very compelling talk for TED.com about the connection between music and architecture throughout history: “As his career grew, David Byrne went from playing CBGB to Carnegie Hall. He asks: Does the venue make the music? From outdoor drumming to Wagnerian operas to arena rock, he explores how context has pushed musical innovation.”
Check out this rendition of NWA’s classic “Straight Outta Compton” during a commercial break on The Jimmy Fallon Show recently. Sounds great!
(via YANP)
What would Jim Morrison say?
Find out more about Italy’s The Stupid Set on 7″ From the Underground.
I won’t try to use bullshit new genre terms to describe this one from Wild Nothing, the new project by Virginia’s Jack Tatum. Instead, I’ll just say that this is the kind of song you would want to hear as soon as the rain starts to fall.
{MP3} Wild Nothing – “Chinatown”
The debut album, Gemini, is available on Captured Tracks.
Start your weekend off right with this video clip from ’80s Detroit dance show “The Scene“, featuring songs from Changing Of The Guard, Master C&J, Santos and Freestyle with their classic “It’s Automatic“. You just died and went to rollerskating heaven.
Markus Popp’s laptop project Oval has been dormant for the past 10 years, but this year the master of glitch music is returning to the project with a more musical direction. The mixing of natural and synthetic sounds, this track, from the new EP Oh and future album O, is a wobbly exercise in cool minimalist rhythms, melodies and even free jazz. Dig it:
{MP3} Oval – “Ah!”
Read more about his new direction on the Thrill Jockey site.
(via The Wire)
The Lafayettes were a short-lived ’60s Rock band (’62-’63) from Baltimore who only achieved mild success within the Eastern part of the US (including Philly) . They released just two 45s and the A-side of the first, “Life’s Too Short”, charted at #87 on Billboard and was featured in the original movie Hairspray. In a new documentary, it was also touted by Brian Eno as having a profound effect on him as a youth. Have a listen and see if you can hear why:
{MP3} The Lafayettes – “Life’s Too Short”
As Eno points out, the genius of the song lies in the lack of instrumentation (something that certainly wasn’t too common in those days). The song holds up as a catchy piece of pop and carries the weight of the singer’s soulful words with not much more than a rim shot rhythm. It’s a great example of early minimalism in Rock and Roll and one that I can’t stop listening to.
You can buy both of the band’s 45s on CD at Amazon or seek them out in your local record store used bins.
This new, 1 hour look into the career of revolutionary musician (and multimedia artist) Brian Eno is described as “a portrait of the avant-garde musician working in his studio and talking to friends and colleagues about music, systems analysis and cybernetics”. It’s this informal setting that makes the film a joy to watch, not to mention that every segment packs quite a bit of inspiration.
You can watch it now on Pathway to Unknown Worlds.
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