Neon Indian – Sleep Paralysist
I am really digging this new track from Neon Indian. Alan Palomo went to Brooklyn and recorded the track, “Sleep Paralysist” at Terrible Studios and he was aided in the process by Grizzly Bear who helped mix and master the track (the mix is excellent, spacey and visceral). The track, the first post, break out record, Psychic Chasms, is in keeping with the surrealistic cosmic disco sounds, but is also uniquely defined by the placement of the vocals and lead lines. These are upfront in the mix at times and floating in the back at others, that combined with the bouncy movement of the lead lines gives it a that vibe which Neon Indian has definitely made recognizable and pretty much his own, and that intangible accomplishment has taken him far and fast in the past few months.
mp3 – Neon Indian – Sleep Paralysist
Plastic Beach Album Review and MP3’s
…and then “Empire Ants” happens and you understand the entire kooky concept behind the newest Gorillaz album, Plastic Beach. The crux of the album is a typical Albarn vocal cascade, shadowed by an atypical synthesizer and rasping drum loop, but that’s just the first three minutes of the song, because arriving post 2:59 mark is the featured Little Dragon breakdown, in which you glean all the filthy hopefulness of an imaginary island made of trash. Concurrently manufactured and organic, “Empire Ants” is the spacey microcosm of Plastic Beach, which is said to be inspired by the washed-up filth lining English beaches, as well as landfills in Mali.
All the songs on this album seem to be inspired by the ecological paradox of the Earth’s materials being used to destroy the Earth itself, but Albarn and his guest list of performers never get preachy or heavy handed. Musically, Plastic Beach either belongs to the not-so-distant past(synth lines, disco beats, vocoders), or to an impossible future. For every straightforward man-made fruity loop on every track, there is also an organic juxtaposition, such as the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble on “Sweepstakes,” or the brief suite by the National Orchestra For Arabic Music on “White Flag”. This braiding of the robotic with the human is the auditory thesis behind Plastic Beach, and as contrived as that sounds, this is still a Gorillaz album, and there hasn’t been a Gorillaz album yet that you couldn’t dance to.
It will be interesting to see how some of these cuts will stand by themselves, like “Glitter Freeze,” a noticeable low point in the album, as well as “Cloud of Unknowing,” which tried too hard to be soulful and ended up misplaced. Conversely there are a handful of arias on the Plastic Beach opera that are going to be guaranteed radio mainstays, like “Some Kind of Nature,” featuring a deadpan, wildly-sided, Lou Reed, “Superfast Jellyfish,” and maybe “Welcome to Plastic Beach,” which is equipped with the slivering cotton-mouthed tongue of Snoop Dogg. Apart from those select view, the songs off Plastic Beach are going to be to weird for mass consumption, but there’s going to be a night/morning when you will be alone listening to the eeriness of “Rhinestone Eyes,” and something like a sweet Stockholm’s syndrome will consume you.
Maybe you won’t understand what the hell’s going on…
Mp3: Gorillaz – Some Kind of Nature ft. Lou Reed
Mp3: Gorillaz – Empire Ants ft. Little Dragon
Get Hip: Malachai
Coming straight outta Bristol, England- Malachai has been blipping my radar almost on a daily basis. Don’t let the Children of the Corn associations or the cheesy cover art throw you, released on Domino Records at the beginning of February, Ugly Side of Love is worth your virtual green, gift cards or eMusic credits if you enjoy handclaps, surf rock, hip hop production values, vintage sounds, psychedelia or the drugs associated with it. Sounds cool, huh? It is….
Hand me down tuesdaY: Cashing in on Dylan w/ Link Wray and Monsters of Folk
When I started this weekly post of different cover songs I knew that I would have an endless supply of material thanks to Robert Zimmerman. A friend even joked that I could do a year of Tuesdays devoted to the master of my ears desire. He was right and here’s another one that I’m particularly fond of.
I imagine that bands and artists cover Dylan due to his stripped down arrangements that allow for alteration, improvisation, and an “I wonder what that song would sound like with…” quality. That and the fact that his words are as comforting and as warming as an electric blanket or a bowl of tortilla soup. My own lifelong devotion is due to multiple lyrical TKOs. In my mind his music personifies a perfect balance of emotion. His characters can be as trained and mentally conditioned as a kung fu master with heart of gold or as stoic as Caesar with overflowing ventricles.
Here, as in many of my favorites, the listener peers in on the eternal solitary man as he searches for and laments a lost companion. He sings an honest tale of his loss only so that he can remember and then forget. Wonderful thoughts of a gal that was his love swell his brain as he moves further and further away from her. ”Girl From the North Country” was first released on The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan in 1963 and as you can see it was recorded in the very folky early Dylan-era sound. Rerecorded with Johnny Cash and sung in the less strained vocal styling that can be found all over Nashville Skyline and his other late 60’s albums this duet adds a nice contrast. Listen to hear Dylan singing in the voice of the emotional wanderer and Cash as a calloused over outlaw. It’s a very fitting recording when considering my assessment a paragraph above.
And now I have a confession to make. I had something else picked out for today but after repeated listens to the Link Wray version rattled my walls woke up my neighbors, I was forced to make a lineup change. I’ve got a feeling that if I didn’t tell you that it was recorded in 1965 you just might buy that this lo fi recording that drowns in jingle jangle was recorded in some shitty studio in Montreal or Brooklyn. If you listen to ONE song LOUD this tuesdaY, make it Link Wray’s version of “Girl From the North Country.” You won’t be sorry.
Lastly is a live version by M. Ward, Conor Oberst, Jim James, and Mike Mogis otherwise known as Monsters of Folk. This was recorded on their 2003 tour that gave them the idea to congeal their talents together and release a record. While I appreciate and enjoy all of them, JJ and Mike Mogis shine! Happy tuesdaY y’all!
MP3: Bob Dylan- Girl From the North Country (original)
MP3: Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash- Girl From the North Country
MP3: Link Wray- Girl From the North Country
MP3: (pre) Monsters of Folk- Girl From the North Country
New MGMT Mp3: “Flash Delerium”
A lot of people (including myself) have been patiently waiting for follow up to Oracular Spectacular . Today MGMT’s first ’single’ was released, or leaked. Sources say, “more to come”. “Flash Delerium” is off Congratulations, out 4/13 on Columbia.
mp3 – MGMT – Flash Delerium
mp3 via
Video: The Trusty Knife Perform at The Cactus Club 2/26
The Trusty Knife – Live at Cactus Club from High Frequency Media on Vimeo.
First off we’d like to thank our new partners in video-crime over at High Frequency Video for helping us capture all the funky entropy of The Trusty Knife’s February 26th show at The Cactus Club.
This video is of an as-of-yet-unknown new song by Milwaukee’s most under-appreciated musical geniuses. It seems that all the underlying soul influences heard in TTK’s older material have finally surfaced in an all out rhythm and blues circus, complete with a horn section and clean, tumbling guitar lines straight out of the Stax/Volt riff library.
For all of us still rocking out to the Knife’s self-titled 2008 release, this new recording, as well as the four unfamiliar songs recently posted on their Myspace, gives us hope that new material, and even possibly an album, could be in the works and available for public consumption soon.
Pantha Du Prince – Panda Bear – Four Tet
“Stick To My Side” the Pantha Du Prince x Panda Bear track gets remixed by Four Tet and yikes, this track kills. 1000 bonus, it’s 40 degrees in MKE.
mp3 – Pantha Du Prince (ft/ Panda Bear) – Stick To My Side (Four Tet remix)
via: here and here and probs the rest of the internets in about an hour.
High on Fire, feat. the Kraken
They've descended the fartsocks and fought the Kraken, and now, verily, they rock.
WARNING: METAL
High on Fire – Bastard Samurai
Given that you’re on an indie weblog, I think it’s safe to assume that you’re unprepared to listen to High on Fire’s newest album, Snakes for the Divine. The album is a monolithic, knuckle-dragging blend of mainstream and alternative metal tropes – you can hear the influence of Black Sabbath, but there’s also a knowing appropriation of anti-heroic, Melvins-style sludge. But I can’t just tell you that – you’ve got to find out for yourself. You’re going to have to go on a quest.
—- “A quest?” sayest thou. Yea, ’tis A QUEST! —–
1. You’re going to need armor. I would recommend an ice suit, for then you will be impervious to fire.
a. This will slightly decrease your body temperature, which will aid you in coping with living inside a freezing fucking suit of ice.
2. You’re going to need a weapon. I would recommend a nine-string guitar.
On Tap: MKE’s Best Mixtapes
In the massive and mysterious square mileage that is Milwaukee proper there is a hip-hop movement on par with any major musical movement in the past decade. For any excusably uneducated anybody there is hope in the form of the freshly-minted (yesterday) MKE’s Best mixtapes.
This championing effort can be seen as WMSE’s response to the Great Hip Hop Debate of 2010, who, after hearing the witless arguments on either side of the turntable spectrum, decided to team-up with The Mad Bloggers, and compile the pure evidence of Milwaukee’s thriving hip-hop scene.
The two mixtapes, Light or Draft, are replete with Radio Milwaukee radio play favorites, and anybody who downloaded the Yo MKE Raps! mixtape will be familiar with most of the 42 songs. The usual suspects (Prophetic, JC Poppe, Haz Solo, Kid Millions, House of M et al.), who compose Milwaukee’s dream team of young and expert lyricists, all make appearances on the mixtapes. Apart from the chorus of familiar voices you can expect the crisp production from Dylan Thomas, 88 Keys, Adlib, and the rest of the Cream City’s wizards-behind-the-curtain.
Some of the biggest surprises on the tapes are “Chasing Success,” by Misen Lync, which name-drops Prophetic way too much, but all over a slick beat that sounds like Timbaland in a rain stick, as well as Stream of Consciousness’, “It Will…” which is as transitory as advertised. As far as the best, previously-unknown, track on the two mixtapes, it has to be “Phone Sex,” for a whole host of smirk-inducing reasons it is the sleekest track and by far lightest cut on the Light mix.
WMSE and The Mad Bloggers have accomplished what the set out to do, which was to collect the micro-eskers and whorls of Milwaukee’s fingerprint. Even if the mixtapes weren’t especially deep or vast they serve as a needed introduction to Milwaukee’s booming hip-hop scene.
You can download the entire mixtapes for free HERE and HERE.
Mp3: Phone Sex – Haz Solo & Dylan Thomas
Mp3: Superman Ain’t My Name – House of M
Kisses – Bermuda
I don’t mind a band named Kisses. I don’t mind catchy, upbeat pop songs either. With that, here is a side project from Princeton’s lead man Jesse Kivel and Zinzi Edmundson. The LA pairing will release a physical of the single April 27th. In the meantime, Kisses will be playing a handful of SXSW dates/parties.
mp3 – Kisses – Bermuda
[mp3 via]
