Stuff of the Moment: Bootleg & Mash-Up mp3 Links
Some great new tracks from the forthcoming final American Johnny Cash release. Following the tradition of its predecessors it looks like there's going to be some roots-influenced covers scattered amongst some originals. "Like The 303" was the last song ever written by Cash, and is a testament to his abilities up to his dying days.
Check out a great performance by one of the most influental bands of the last twenty years, Dinosaur Jr., on The Henry Rollins Show. They're aging, yeah, but at least the band is back working together. (link)
There's a certainty that this is one of the best performances that I've ever seen from a late night television program. Stereogum posted a link to the YouTube files for Bruce Springsteen & The Seeger Sessions Band's performance on Late Night With Conan O'Brien from this past friday and it is absolutely spectacular. The band consists of literally some twenty musicians (well...Jimmy Fallon & Thomas Hayden Church are there too...playing the spoons...) which all lend their individual talents flawlessly creating a massive musical orgy. If there's one performance you check out this week, let it be this (oh...and I still have a considerable distaste for Jimmy Fallon, in all his spoon playing, camera-time stealing glory):
Occasionally something on Pitchfork really peaks my attention...today was one such day that this was oh so true. What kind of crazy mixed up sounding explosion of goodness could come from everyone's favorite sample-steady indie pop band covering one of the longest standing street-cred worthy acts in history? It's odd...but not too odd...not excellent...but FAR from horrible. Enjoy friends:
The 12th edition of the Contrast Podcast has been released with a numbers theme, unlike the first edition which simply surrounded interpretations of the number 1. My selection for the podcast was a long time coming, Hank Williams III with his song "7 months, 39 Days." (link) (feed) Next week's theme has been provided to us by the outstanding Victor Scott, "Dinner Music For A Pack of Hungry Cannibals."
Irish indie rockers Snow Patrol fell into fashion with the band's 2003 releaseFinal Straw. Blending into its surroundings Snow Patrol found popularity through the band's fresh appeal; though in all reality it had been a long time coming. Forming in and around 1994, Snow Patrol reveals Eyes Open as the band's fourth album, finding its increased expectation resulting in, at times, both pulsating musical flair and tranquilizing lulls.
A number of companies including Fuse and Alternative Press are offering an amazing contest that includes a trip for two to The Vans Warped Tour in Cleveland, OH and a pair of tickets to a guided Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Tour. Though I've historically had distaste for many things Cleveland, I've been to the HOF and it's definitely a sight to be had. Check the contest out here - LINK
Sonic Youth is one of my all time favorite bands and it is truly amazing to see a band aging with such grace. One of the true great bands of the last century (I'm excluding bands pre-June 1906...they were a bunch of losers anyways...).
The most popular post in the short history of this site is Culture Bully's 10 Favorite Mash-Ups of 2005. In the spirit of that, I'd like to introduce some of the best mash-ups that I've come across for the week ending Monday, June 19, 2006. As always, they're not for everyone, but for those who still like 'em, enjoy.
San Diego's The Plot To Blow Up The Eiffel Tower have been receiving quite a bit of recognition within the confines of modern indie, but when it comes to bands with more than 7 words in their names, this usually spells trouble. The band's INRI EPsuccessfully serves as a quick once over of the quartet's image and sound, introducing drawn out vocals, crashing percussion and deep bass, all of which characterize the single's sound.
Pretty Flowers is a Brooklyn-based four-piece that harkens back to the post-punk era of bands that played solid mid-tempo music based on harder, faster influences. The three-song debut EP explicitly borrows from a wide range of bands from the early '80s, and the group does so effectively. Keeping somewhat of a rough sound through a modest recording budget has its definite benefits.
Björk has made a handsome living from defining and recreating boundaries in the aural arts. One of the key characteristics made throughout her career has been the tremendous lack of separation between what is recorded and what her fans marvel at. As her career progresses she has been given the liberty of continually defining herself through any number of experimental projects, as many to critical acclaim as to critical question. As time goes on there is a sense of connect to Björk that I hadn't previously had, much due to the lack of artificial influence in her work. Her music is genuine, in that she isn't making it with hopes of spiting modern radio, and nor is she making it for the simple credibility that is associated with her (lack of) genre. She admirably makes the music that she loves, whatever form it may take. A Drawing Restraint 9 site comments wisely on her style, in that she is "refusing to choose between pop pleasure and restless experimentation, Björk's musical vision weds technology and emotion, countering gut-level expression with an insistence upon formal modernity and innovation."
A decent track from one of the cooler New Pornographers, that's right Kurt Dahle, I'm looking at you...
Despite the Hot Topic-factor, I still like the band to some extent, get off my back, things could always be worse.
A great late-night performance from a classic band. Kudos to Ferguson for the classy...well...nice intro.
Sometimes there are casualties of mergers and shifts in the tastes within modern pop music which result in unfortunate misrepresentation or simple label drops. Whatever it is, rider of grunge's coattails, Art Alexis, has assembled a new version of Everclear on indie label Eleven Seven Music. The band lost me years ago and I'm not sure the new stuff is really worth checking out, but check it out and see for yourself:
Some of the best songs that passed through my inbox for the week ending June 16, 2006.
Just in time for the touring season comes the new single from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. What else would you expect, it's great. A harder song than a lot of Petty's later albums with a Thorogood-esque intro, and I completely dig that. Check it out!
The latest album has been put down so hard throughout the blogosphere, but occasionally something pops up like this and questions that. It's not all that spectacular, but it's a good song nonetheless.
Cat Power is completely hit or miss with me, and generally (sorry indie friends) she doesn't hit. This performance - hit.
Who is Zero 7? Remember that one movie with that one perfectly placed song? If the movie you're thinking about was Garden State, chances are you already know Zero 7. However in an attempt to change what might be perceived as the duo's image stemming from the success of 2004's When It Falls (and exposure through mediums such as movies) Henry Binns and Sam Hardaker moved their production out of London's core and into Glastonbury. The thought was to also limit the level of collaboration in hopes of finding a grassroots sound, possibly even to find something they weren't even looking for in the process. They needed change, and change they found. Reeling from the near-20 guest musicians that appeared on When It Falls, Binns and Hardaker made the simple addition of 2 for The Garden, long time collaborater Sia Furler and Swedish indie-hipster Jose Gonzales.
The latest episode of the Contrast Podcast is up and once again, it's looking good. This week's episode features a theme surrounding the kind of music that is kind of embarassing, but kind of good nonetheless; the kind of music in which you're the only one who likes it. My pick this week comes from a German transexual goth who's back-up band is made out of souls. Oh, and they typically play in the style of baroque. That's right, you got it, Sopor Aeternus & The Ensemble of Shadows. (link) (feed)
Who's blowing up these days? Who's on the latest iTunes commercial? Who's playing practically everywhere at the same time? Wolfmother, baby, Wolfmother.