One more video before the day is out?
Tokyo Police Club’s Elephant Shell is super cute. How is it possible for an album to be super cute, you ask? I don’t really know, but it is. One of my favorite debut LP’s of the year so far (barely a debut though, as the band’s released 2 acclaimed EP’s prior), and one of my favorite songs from the record, “In a Cave”….Look up.
I don’t know if this link will last, but this is supposed to be the new Coldplay video for “Violet Hill” that doesn’t officially premier until Monday…
And we all know what a little bitch EMI is.
This morning on the today show, the New Kids on the Block performed a medley of “Step by Step,” “Hangin’ Tough,” “Please Don’t Go Girl,” and “The Right Stuff.” I saw this girl with a black, pink and green New Kids hat that I used to have. Why did she keep that? Why is she wearing it now? So many questions…
I swear, this happened today.
The band’s new single, “Summertime,” is out now.
The Cure are doing their own Cooler-than-a-regular-old-boring-album-release-thing, and are releasing 4 singles (starting in May, and one each month to follow) before their new album, [not yet titled], comes out September 13th. The first came out this past Tuesday, “The Only One,” and here is the official vid.
Classic. Can’t go wrong.
Nas recently sat sown with MTV to discuss the details of his new album, Nigger.
“There’s a connection to even the smallest thing. So I looked at it as the whole world, instead of looking at us as beauty. Inside poverty, inside the street, inside the ghettos and the gutters and the slums, we aren’t looked at as beauty out there. We were looked at as the worst pest, and because of that, because of that treatment, some of us started to believe we were a pest, started to believe what we were told, and started to act like it, and started to reproduce my people, bring kids in the world that were f—ed up in the head.”
Yeah, this is gonna be heavy.
Artist: Estelle
Track: “More than Friends”
Album: Shine
I will admit I did not like “American Boy” the first, or even the tenth time that I heard it. Despite all the Kanye and the Will.i.am (we all know how much I love me some Kanye). But it’s grown on me viciously, and even more good news is that this is one of the bottom songs on the album. I love this album. My favorite song this week is “More than Friends,” produced by Keezo Kane (Talib Kweli, LL Cool J), it’s just a catchy, awesome Pop R&B track. It actually reminds me of John Legend, who coincidently executive produced the whole record. Grower singles can be tricky.
Parlophone posted a little sneaky of the new Coldplay video for “Violet Hill,” and I am officially excited for Viva la Vida.
Don’t hate. Full vid on Monday.
I like anything involving candy. And Kanye. Guilty. Pleasure.
Are they up to #11 already? The latest episode of Lost, “Cabin Fever” answered about half of the amount of questions that it raised (as does every episode ever). Another highly amusing contribution from Brooklyn’s Previously on Lost, the song “Move It”…
Back to boatside, the cap at last reveals the rat
Feeling so fine, until he squished his ankle flat
Keamy grants a freebee though he’d rather pull the trigger but the
Pistol was jammed
THE PISTOL WAS JAMMED
But hope is racing back, hijacked the zodiac, to lend a nautical helping hand
Crippled vision, a cabin built before his eyes
A mathematician, a map is where his body lies
A baby born into a family torn, was quickly tossed away
He crashed into this world, and crashed onto our island much the same
Good times havin found the cabin, now off to pick Jacobs brain
Destiny (fickle) prevails, (bitch) again
Locke’s assistants, share snacks while the grownups talk
The resistant captain gets sacked with the doc
As a lad he had to pick which things belonged to him but are you sure about the knife
NO NOT SURE BOUT THE KNIFE
never good enough for special school locke locked in lockers played the fool, he felt doomed to an uncool life
passed up chances to go to Portland to fit in
no school dances, the girls will only laugh at him
Couldn’t be the prom king, superhero nor the quarterback
From an incubator you’d become the leader of the pack
Grown to be the chosen one to save your soil from attack
Ya gotta moooooooooooooooveeee your island
Listen: “Move it” by Previously on Lost
The official video for “Everybody Nose” featuring Lindsay Lohan? I also think I saw Big Boi and Kanye in there somewhere.
Summer jam of the year?
Artist: Bruce Springsteen
Track: “Jersey Girl”
Album: Live/1975-85
Discussions sparked yesterday with some family and friends after I forwarded that stream of the new Scarlett Johansson Tom Waits cover album. I love the album. I don’t really know what that says about me, but according to most reviews so far it says I don’t really know what I’m talking about. As someone who was never really huge into Waits, I’d imagine that I’m probably hearing it from somewhat unbiased ears; Kind of like how I thought Across the Universe was a peice of poopy [mostly].
Either way, we got into a discussion of Tom Waits covers, and this came up as a favorite of mine. I immediately got into a serious Bruce mood last night and loaded up my iPod with Darkness on the Edge of Town, Born to Run, and Nebraska. It’s going to be a good day.
Death Cab For Cutie Narrow Stairs
Besides a very long single that bored me to tears, I think Death Cab could possibly get away with this record. For some reason, Gibbard’s serenade no longer woo’s me. However, some of these tracks are very nicely arranged, and the sounds here are very different from the band’s previous major label release.
Teitur The Singer
Teitur’s debut album Poetry and Aeroplanes was a surprise recommendation that ended up as one of my favorite records that year. The Singer is sort of an odd collection of tracks, a bit unlike his straight-forward singer-songwriter formula on his previous two albums.
The Black Angels Directions to See a Ghost
Sophomore album from Austin blues, industrial, [something else dark and depressing] band. A solid collection of all of rock’s most fucked up psychedelic genres and eras. The spirits of Jim Morrison and Ian Curtis have been spending time and they are having a badass jam in hell.
Duffy Rockferry
The Stateside release of this already smash album in the UK, Rockferry (produced by Suede’s Bernard Butler - true story) is quickly becoming one of my favorite records of 2008 Q2. I’m not so much on board with the Amy Winehouse comparisons, but I do see where they could come from.
The Dresden Dolls revealed the details on their upcoming b-sides and rarities release, No, Virginia. Some of the tracks are unreleased b-sides from 2006’s indredible album, Yes, Virginia, some are new tracks recorded in January of this year, and some “other” (indicated below). Thanks wiki.
The album is due May 20 on Roadrunner. “The Kill,” one of the unreleased Yes, Virginia tracks is streaming here.
1. “Dear Jenny” - 3:07 [I]
2. “Night Reconnaissance” - 3:56 [I]
3. “The Mouse and the Model” - 6:02 [II]
4. “Ultima Esperanza” - 4:33 [I]
5. “The Gardener” - 5:08 [III]
6. “Lonesome Organist Rapes Page Turner” - 3:42 [IV]
7. “Sorry Bunch” - 3:09 [I]
8. “Pretty in Pink” - 3:57 [V]
9. “The Kill” - 3:49 [III]
10. “The Sheep Song” - 3:59 [I]
11. “Boston” - 7:20 [III]
* I^ Recorded with Sean Slade in January 2008.
* II^ Old demo.
* III^ Unreleased sessions from Yes, Virginia….
* IV^ Bonus track from the Japanese edition of Yes, Virginia….
* V^ Released on the High School Reunion various artists compilation.
Another haunting video from the new Portishead, yet completely different than the studio performance footage in the previous video for “Machine Gun.” For “The Rip,” some old school animation that portrays a very different vibe than the music may suggest, but it works together very well.
This album is ridiculous, huh?
It really doesn’t get more fun than The Faint. You haven’t lived until you’ve danced to Danse Macabre drunk in the basement of a record store. Trust me.
The Omaha, Nebraska dance-rock band announced today that they are releasing a new record, Fascination, on their own label blank.wav. It will be the band’s 5th studio album, and is due out August 5th.
This is the second big act to leave Saddle Creek this year (Conor Oberst announced a solo album deal with Merge in April). Hmm…
Full tracklisting below…
1. Get Seduced
2. The Geeks Were Right
3. Machine in the Ghost
4. Fulcrum and Lever
5. Psycho
6. Mirror Error
7. I Treat You Wrong
8. Forever Growing Centipedes
9. Fish in a Womb
10. A Battle Hymn for Children
For the past 6 years, I’ve been genuinely disturbed by every solo release by former Life of Agony frontman Keith Caputo. I don’t think the man knows how to write anything but incredible, intense music. After 7 amazing albums (including one with band Freax and a live record), Keith’s library of work is an overwhelming collection of emotional songwriting, eloquent lyrics, and eclectic arrangements.
His latest album, A Fondness for Hometown Scars (streaming here), features one of my favorite Caputo songs, “Crawling.” The track is Keith’s first single from the new album, and will soon have a Corin Hardy directed music video (The Guillemots, Keane). Keith has a very devoted following that’s strongest in Holland, and tours in and around that area of Europe often (both solo and with Life of Agony - who have staged somewhat of a comeback in recent years, including a stint on Epic Records). He’ll be touring for the majority of the summer and fall, including some August dates in the states (below).
If you have any plans for killing yourself or being born again, Keith Caputo surely has the perfect soundtrack. Do yourself a favor and listen to everything here.
“Crawling” live at Vpro3voor12tv Radio, Holland:
Aug 6- Jaxx, Springfield, Virginia
Aug 8- North Star Bar, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Aug 14- Club Toxic, Green Bay, Wisconsin
Aug 15- The Whiskey, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Aug 16- Motorheads, Michigan Center, Michigan
Aug 17- I Rock, Detroit, Michigan
Aug 19- Barfly, Cleveland, Ohio
Aug 20- The Chance, Poughkeepsie, New York
Aug 21- Skyline, Albany, New York
Aug 22- Lost Horizon, Syracuse, New York
Aug 23- Mercury Lounge, New York, New York
Aug 24- Webster Underground, Hartford, Connecticut
“This city is for strangers, like the sky is for the stars,” sings Jaymay on “Gray or Blue” from her Blue Note debut, Autumn Fallin’. Her soft acoustic guitars, jazzy arrangements, and beautiful voice make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. If you couldn’t tell by that lyric above, Jaymay is a native New Yorker with a major Dylan obsession.
You can catch Jaymay on her first ever US tour this June (she’s currently touring in Europe), and be sure to listen to the stream of “Gray or Blue,” as well as “Ill Willed Person” here on her myspace page. Autumn Fallin’ is out right NOW. Put it on your iPod and go for a walk in Central Park or something… (I’ll put that on my ‘to-do’ list for the weekend).
Listen: “Gray or Blue” by Jaymay
