Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Karen O. Covers Daniel J.

The official soundtrack to the upcoming Spike Jones' movie Where The Wild Things Are is currently being streamed on Stereogum.com. All the songs on the soundtrack are performed by Karen O. And The Kids. It's an accoustic affair and sounds nothing like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, in case you were wondering. Two tracks really stand out to me on this album - first and foremost, the Daniel Johnston cover of "Worried Shoes" and the stellar "Hideaway."

Richard Hawley

I've always wondered why musician Richard Hawley isn't bigger than he is. Perhaps he's not a man of these times. Perhaps he would be better served crooning on a 1960's variety show with Scotch in hand. Regardless, Richard Hawley deserves more accolades than he gets.

A fleeting member of the now-defunct British band Pulp, Hawley is certainly overshadowed by Pulp's ever-popular frontman, Jarvis Cocker. As far as talent goes, however, I would put my money on Hawley any day.

His album Cole's Corner was nominated for Britain's Mercury Prize in 2006. The Mercury Prize that year was eventually awarded to The Arctic Monkeys whose lead singer, Alex Turner, exclaimed "Someone call 999, Richard Hawley's been robbed!"

Hawley's latest album Truelove's Gutter which was released last week is, in my opinion, one of the better releases of the year.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

You Suck!

Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 240 to 179 to formally disapprove of the conduct of Republican Congressman Joe Wilson who shouted "you lie!" during President Obama's speech to Congress. Have you clowns nothing better to do with your time? There are quite a few individuals in this world that I disapprove of but I'm certainly not going to vote on it. Seriously though, Congress should conduct themselves in a more dignified manner much like their British contemporaries do in the House of Commons...

Girls

"It's like, everybody has a band. It's this thing people do because they think they're supposed to do it, because they want to get chicks or think they're cool. It's not about that for me. It's about finding a reason to live."
-Christopher Owens

I often yawn when I hear about an up and coming band or artist being labeled as "the next big thing" before their record is even released because a)the term is often overused and b)I'm usually left disappointed amid all the hype. Gimmickry is typically all you need to build a buzz around a band and gimmicks are a dime a dozen. Backstory, on the other hand, is much harder to come by and, I must admit, it is something that gets my attention every time. The latest "next big thing" is a San Francisco band by the name of Girls whose lead singer, Christopher Owens, has one of the more hellacious backstories in music.

Christopher Owens was brought up in a religious cult called the Children of God. Having a regular job was prohibited by the Children of God so the cult's leader, David Berg, simply prostituted the women of the cult, including Owens' mother, in order to raise money...for god, of course. In the upcoming October issue of Spin magazine, Owens claims that he was in the room "plenty of times" while his mother was engaged in the act of prostitution. Needless to say, the guy has some issues he's working out and he's doing it through the best channel there is - music. May you find solace in your creativity.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Vivian Girls

Vivian Girls are a three-piece band out of Brooklyn that I really haven't listened to enough to form an opinion. I ran across this video, however, on the internet from their newly released album Everything Goes Wrong and I can't get it out of my head. It's really good.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

In Defense of Kanye

Plenty of people have recently lined up to bash Kanye West over his interruption of Taylor Swift's acceptance speech at the MTV Video Music Awards. Even the President of the United States called him a "jackass." Kanye's poor judgement in this matter is indisputable. What is disputable, however, is the blogosphere's chatter of Kanye being "ghetto" and racist.

Why, just look at the menacing stare of Kanye and his angry ghetto posse. Quick! Hide your wallets!


Racist? We're talking about a guy who grew up in the suburbs. A guy who has more in common with the indie music world than the rap world. A guy who has raised eyebrows in the rap community for speaking out against homophobia. A guy who admits to listening to rock music more than rap and whose favorite band is the Red Hot Chili Peppers. A guy who has collaborated musically with the likes of Chris Martin of Coldplay, Daft Punk, 30 Seconds To Mars, and other notable honkeys.

Yes, Kanye is guilty of quite a bit that gets the gossip rags buzzing, but being ghetto and racist, I must say, is quite laughable.

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Extract

I previously stated that Harold Ramis and the late John Hughes were the greatest comedy writer/directors of the last thirty years. Mike Judge should definitely be added to that list.

His latest movie, Extract, is a sort of Office Space in reverse where the point of view is from a management perspective this time around. Jason Bateman is cast perfectly as the owner of a flavored extract factory who seems to be on the brink of being engulfed by the chaos of his marriage as well as his factory. Whether Extract is as great as Office Space or Idiocracy is debatable, but it is, undoubtedly, another notch in Mike Judge's belt of great movies.

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Want You Back

As I am already a fan of Nite Jewel's music, her latest single "Want You Back" just solidifies that position even more. This is definitely one of my favorite songs of this year. Her music has been described as "anti-dance dance music." I have read the blogs of those who are annoyed by people like me standing at concerts with arms folded because we think we are "too cool for school." a) I don't dance and b)forcing me to participate in anything annoys me and reminds me of when I had to go to church when I was younger. Sit. Stand. Sing. Pray. Repeat...Dance. Clap. Wave Your Hands Like You Just Don't Care. Say _____ is in the house. Ugh. Anti-dance dance music? Sign me up!

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Them Crooked Vultures

In the world of music, "supergroups" rarely live up to the hype that is bestowed upon them before they even record a single track, yet the anticipation of what could be still makes us giddy. The latest supergroup known as Them Crooked Vultures consists of John Paul Jones, Josh Homme, and Dave Grohl, all of whom I have a great deal of respect for.

Undoubtedly, the bar will be set way too high for these guys, but the thought of seeing them live together on stage is pretty exciting. They will play Austin City Limits Festival on Friday, October 2 and an aftershow on Thursday, October 1 at Stubbs.