Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Julian Casablancas-"11th Dimension" Track Review


Julian Casablancas is coming out with his first solo album next Tuesday. He's the lead singer in this band called the Strokes. They're good. Actually, they rule more than ruler. Sadly, it seems like the Strokes are having a little bit of trouble recording their 4th album, but luckily we have Julian's record to hold us over until the Strokes get it together (get it together, dudes. please. thank you).

"11th Dimension" is the lead single off Julian's new album, Phrazes For The Young. It sounds like the Strokes crossed with Miami Horror and the theme song from "Saturday's Night Main Event." The Strokes definitely tried to play with keyboard/synth sound on songs like "12:51" with guitar pedals but on "11th Dimension" Julian says fuck it, this is my own album and goes all out with the synth which sounds amazing and ridiculously catchy. Julian's voice is just as wonderful as he delivers those awesome one liners like he did with the Strokes ( "I just nod, I never been so good at shaking hands." Simple, yet awesome.)

Personally, this track sounds just as good or maybe even better than anything that the Strokes have released. It's possible that it just sounds refreshing to me cause Julian is taking a chance with some different sounds on this tune and hopefully the rest of the album, which I can't wait to hear.

Phrazes For The Young will be released next Tuesday, November 3rd. You can buy it on Itunes for the low, low price of 4.99 or as Julian's website states, for less than a pack of smokes.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Travis-Martyr's 10/24/09


I was first introduced to Travis back in 1999 when I made a visit to London to see some friends that were studying abroad. I bought both Good Feeling and The Man Who at a CD shop at Heathrow while waiting for my plane back to the U.S. I really fell in love with The Man Who. So much so, that I remember going to one of those Q101 Jamboree crap shows just so I could see Travis (sidenote, I saw alot awful things that day, like the Bloodhound Gang. Gross.).

Fast forward 10 years to Saturday night and there I was seeing Travis for the 2nd time. Well, it wasn't all of Travis, just half. Fran Healy and Andy Dunlop played a stellar 2 1/2 hour set that spanned the bands career and they did it in chronological order, starting with the first song that Fran ever wrote, and ending with the last one.
Best part of the show, actually there were two best parts of the show. 1) Fran gave insight to every song that they played that night. Did you know "Driftwood" was inspired by "Cheers?" Or that "Why Does it Always Rain on Me?" was written because of a rainy holiday in Israel, and not cause it "rains on his soul"(insert French accent) like a French DJ suggested at the height of the song's popularity?

2) There was a projection screen at the back of the stage that allowed Fran to show pictures of everything, from pics of the band with Paul McCartney to pictures of his 3 year old son who is obsessed with Michael Jackson.

I'd be a fool to go through all the songs that they played. Lets just say that if you're a Travis fan, all bases were covered. From beginning to end. If they come to your city, go see this show. Or go to New York in a couple weeks. They're playing something obscene like 6 shows in a row while in NYC. If you don't, it will rain on your soul.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

La Roux

La Roux was scheduled to play the brand new Lincoln Hall tonight, but had to cancel due to illness (already rescheduled for 2/1/10). I've caught some flack for enjoying La Roux's music, but I'm not quite sure why. La Roux's sound is like the Knife and Robyn had a baby. La Roux combines the darkness of the former and the pop of the latter, all the while keeping the infectious beats that made both Robyn and the Knife successful.

Here's a clip of La Roux performing the totally awesome "Bulletproof" at Germany's Melt! Festival this summer...

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Halloween

What are you gonna be for Halloween this year? Here's what I'm thinking...

Anybody want to be part of the Revolution?

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Rain Machine-Double Door 10/17/09


A couple things should be noted about this show...

1) The crowd was rather scarce. I would be polite if I said the Double Door was half full (maybe a 1/4 full?). This was surprising. You would think that in being part of one the most critically acclaimed bands of the past decade (TV on the Radio) that Kyp Malone's side project would be able to a draw crowd. This did not happen. I can only wonder why.

2) Kyp Malone's facial hair is amazing up close. It's like he's wearing a ski mask where you can only see a person's eyes and nothing else. His beard engulfs his face like Santa Claus. How his girlfriend or wife finds his lips to kiss him is beyond me. He's like an Ewok, and his voice is his weapon.

Rain Machine's songs ranged from pretty good ("Give Blood') to downright epic ("Smiling Black Faces"). Backed by a band that just seemed happy to be on stage, Malone used the stage as his altar like he was giving the crowd a sermon. And like any good sermon, his voice had soul, power, and was simply mesmerizing at times. It sucked you in and took you on a journey, never leaving you feeling like you were being subjected to his feelings and thoughts; rather, it left you feeling like you were doing the happy dance with all the other Ewoks at the end of Return of the Jedi...


Thursday, October 8, 2009

The Horrors

Due to a prior engagement called vacation, I will not be able to attend The Horror's concert on Sunday at the Double Door. If I wasn't busy trying to get the sand out of my shoe, I would totally go. Their sophomore release, Primary Colours, has been a favorite of mine in '09. Need evidence? Check this video for the, dare I say, hauntingly epic, "Sea Within a Sea."

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Quickies


-Bad Lieutenant aka New Order without Peter Hook, plus some other guy are playing their first U.S. show at Park West on November 18th. There's a presale on Friday, password is sinkswim. In other news, Peter Hook has admitted to forging Ian Curtis' autograph on Joy Division memborbilia. Douche. Bag.

-Girl Talk is playing the Congress Theatre on NYE. Tix are already on sale and fairly cheap for an NYE party. 35 dollars. Last year's Justice NYE party at the Congress was pretty awesome...

-Chris Cornell joined Pearl Jam on stage last night in LA for "Hunger Strike." Temple of the Dog. Watch video here. This does not make up for the fact that Chris Cornell put out an album with Timbaland. Douche. Bag.

-Apparently, Animal Collective is putting out another album this year. Has anyone ever had the #1 and #2 album in the same year on Pitchfork's best album list???

-Thom Yorke told the crowd in L.A. that he'll be back next year to play again. Coachella rumors already started.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Phoenix-The Remixes

From Cadillac commercials to SNL, Phoenix has kinda been everywhere the past few months. By now it's safe to say that Phoenix has become a full blown French phenomenon, much like Gerard Depardieu in the 90's. Only time will tell if their 4th album, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, holds up as well as Green Card did.
With an album filled with so many amazing songs, it is only logical that a gazillion remixes be born. In the past week we've already seen remixes of "Fences" by Animal Collective and the Soft Pack. The former sounding like, duh, Animal Collective, and the latter sounding like a lost Velvet Underground track that would make Warhol proud.
With that said, my favorite remix so far comes from FelipeMusica. I don't know much about Felipe other than he is French and that he's made an easy, breezy, super fantastique, reggae remix of "1901." This remix is the perfect background music for my dream vacation to Jamaica. Red Stripe, jerk chicken, reggae music and Phoenix! As fall and cold weather slip into our lives again, let this be our lead track on the soundtrack to our daydreams.
Listen to FelipeMusica's remix of "1901" right here.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Quickies

Listen or download Vampire Weekend's new single, "Horchata" here. I only got through 90 seconds of this song before my computer died. I then proceeded to take my daily afternoon catnap only to wake up with this song stuck in my head. Only 90 seconds...More cowbell? No. More xylophone? Yes, please. VW's new album Contra drops January 12, 2010.

Thom Yorke played the Echoplex in Los Angeles on Friday night. Band members included Flea, Nigel Godrich, and, uh, Thom Yorke! Download bootleg over herrre.