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| Posted: 23 Feb 2009 05:30 PM CST While waiting for the release of Saddle Creek Shortly after the new album drops, Cursive will make their late night television with David Letterman on Friday, March 13th. Cursive will also be headlining the Saddle Creek Showcase at this year’s SXSW, so be sure to check these guys out if you’re going. Cursive: website | myspace | “I Couldn’t Love You” stream | “From the Hips” stream | @ the barbary Related Posts |
| Remix Monday: Cut Copy’s “Far Away” Posted: 23 Feb 2009 04:35 PM CST Last year Cut Copy put out one of the best records of 2008, and for me, one of my most favorite records, I think, ever. It was their sophomore release, In Ghost Colours, which was produced by none other than Tim Goldsworthy of DFA; the man I oft refer to as a musical genius. The dance punk/electro styled album with new wave influences was an immensely popular and successful album, with inclusion on many of the ‘best of’ lists of 2008. It’s filled with numerous tracks that are just pure musical enjoyment and excellence. I've featured one in a previous remix post “Hearts on Fire” and I'll continue to feature remixes of some of those tracks and today I will continue with “Far Away”. website | myspace | Remix Monday: “Hearts on Fires” “Far Away” Feel like jumping into a DeLorean and time traveling back to the decade of excess, big hair, big money and lots of keyboards? Well you can embrace it with arms wide open by turning on Cut Copy’s “Far Away”. The track is painted with an 80s, retro, electro, disco brush of brilliance. It opens generously with soft, padded, programmed drumbeats and is soon married to a characteristically Human League synth riff. But Cut Copy really take their childhood influences of that decade to make an electro sound uniquely their own. The song is perfectly characteristic of the album, oozing with a sound that is cheerfully positive and upbeat that longs for the late night of the dance floor. Hercules & Love Affair Remix This is my favorite remix of the song and might I say, possibly better than the original. Hercules & Love Affair released their amazing disco inspired album last year, and to note, Tim Goldsworthy, too, produced it. That man had a solid year. This track is wonder on its own by combining two of his pieces of work. The mix is true blue to the sound of Hercules & Love Affair; minimal progressive disco. It takes away the original 80s flavor of the song and replaces it with slow, pampered, house and disco beats and a lot of funk filled bass lines coupled with a few slaps on the bongos. The Golden Filter Remix The Golden Filter mix drains out the vocals and surrounds it with echoy ‘ooh ooh’ vocals to an impressive effect. Musically it too removes the original synths and fuzzy guitars and engages in starry, spaced out presses on the synthesizer. The layered electronic riff is mysteriously sleazy in a late night adventure sort of way, with a punchier beat than the original. Hundreds and Thousands Remix I can’t make out if this remix is good or not, so I’ll just let others decide. It’s a random remix, to say the least, and not very original, however, it has something that makes you keep it on. It has a pretty stomping beat that goes with the kiddy like synths. Though when all that synthy glory is silenced and the lone beat plays amongst the vocals, it’s pretty impressive. Neon Coyote Remix This is a really different take on the song. It is slowed down to the pace of a ballad, and it has that feel as well. Sort of the end of the night, school dance song played in a John Hughes film. It’s adolescently sweet and starry with that sort of youthful magic. No heavy beats, no dance floor drivers, just a sweet song to get close to that special someone with. Related Posts |
| New Obi Best video, tour dates with the Bird and the Bee Posted: 23 Feb 2009 03:15 PM CST LA’s Obi Best has a brand new video “Green and White Stripes,” directed by Max Goldblatt, who also helmed the video for MGMT’s “Boogie Down”. Obi Best is fronted by Alex Lilly, best known for her turn as back-up singer in retro/pop group The Bird and the Bee. The track is off their new album Capades - in stores tomorrow, February 24th, via Social Science Recordings. Watch “Green and White Stripes”: Tour Dates: * = w/The Bird and the Bee Obi Best: myspace | Capades review  Related Posts |
| Anya Marina is Amazon’s “Deal of the Day” Posted: 23 Feb 2009 02:20 PM CST Today, songstress Anya Marina’s Slow & Steady Seduction: Phase II is Amazon.com’s Deal of the Day, meaning you can download the full album for just $3.99. The album is a gem so you’re the one making out on the deal here, dear reader. Produced by Spoon’s Britt Daniel and Louis XIV’s Brian Karscig, SSS:PII is a tightly honed collection of winking pop gems and slyly sexy rock ‘n’ roll, an ideal showcase for Los Angeles-based Anya’s deft melodic sensibility and striking vocal stylings. Anya is about to hit the road with Greg Laswell and Jay Nash, followed by a stop at this year’s SXSW. Tour Dates: * without Greg Laswell and Jay Nash Anya Marina: website | myspace | Slow & Steady Seduction: Phase II review | @ tin angel  Related Posts |
| The Bloody Beetroots first US Tour Posted: 23 Feb 2009 01:10 PM CST For the first time ever, producer Bob Rifo will take project The Bloody Beetroots on tour for select dates in the United States with on-stage partner Tommy Tea. If you’ve given half a second’s listen to anything by the Bloody Beetroots, be it their Rombo or Cornelius EPs, you know that this will be the craziest, most energetic show in existence. I’d imagine it would rival a Girl Talk show, and that’s saying something. Get a sneak peek of what’s in store with The Bloody Beetroots’ video for “Cornelius”: Rifo has a packed schedule, including several guest star collaborations, leading up to the release of his project's highly-anticipated debut album this summer via Dim Mak Records. New single "WARP 1.9" , due late next month, has guest vocals by Dim Mak founder and prominent DJ Steve Aoki. Rifo is also set to add his signature style to a Peaches remix that will be included on the digital edition of her new album. In addition to the hard-hitting dancefloor bangers he is best known for, Rifo's influences range from classical, Stravinsky-esque soundscapes to the grit of Britain's punk rock and Oi! Movements – as evident by both the Cornelius and Rombo EPs. Rifo promises to fuse even more musical genres on TBB's long-awaited full-length while satisfying the fans and critics that crave his addictive, pulsating beats. The Bloody Beetroots - “Butter” The Bloody Beetroots - “Cornelious” (Radio Oi!) Tour Dates: The Bloody Beetroots: myspace  Most Commented Posts |
| Posted: 23 Feb 2009 10:15 AM CST Influences such as Blondie, Garbage and The Chemical Brothers have greatly developed the rock-electric sensation that is Taxi Doll. With a name that come from the bobbleheads that were seen when riding in a taxi, Taxi Doll’s dance music can be heard in clubs all over and have even been featured on soundtracks to both video games and movies. This February, Taxi Doll will be releasing their new album Here and Now. The album Here And Now is just the rock album to which you want to dance. The fast-paced beat of their songs react perfectly with the beautiful vocals, as well as the dominant synthesizer, which has a profound impact in creating the style of music that you hear on this album. However, being labeled as an electric rock band, they do like to incorporate other genres of music into theirs. Title track “Here and Now” has a fast and steady reggae style to it. In their song “Winter”, Taxi Doll went with the slow soft rock to convey the loss of love. While the song can be described as soft rock, it is not your traditional soft rock that you might hear from the Eagles. The diversity of Taxi Doll’s music is what makes this band so loveable. Taxi Doll’s Here and Now is available February 24, 2009. Tracklisting:  Related Posts |
| Posted: 23 Feb 2009 08:45 AM CST It has been discussed that originality is an aspect that aids a band significantly in their song-writing abilities. It is common for bands to parallel the musical aspects of those bands that came before them, but sounding too similar to others may morph your sound into sounding amateur and ripped off in comparison. Take for example, C Their whirlwind music career began when they sent a video in to “Good Morning America”. Their ripe, young age and obvious instrumental brilliance caught the attention of Doc McGhee (manager of such bands as K.I.S.S., Motley Crue and Bon Jovi). The band was then sent on tour with acts such as Alice Cooper, K.I.S.S., Skid Row and Ted Nugent, and documented the experience on MTV’s “Start a Band, Rock the World” and their current progress will be aired on MTV’s “Rock n’ Roll Dream” (so named after a track on the boys’ first album). They have also been the musical guest for Jimmy Kimmel and had a couple of their tracks featured in the video game “Rock Band”. Let’s not forget their barrage of sponsors; Fender, MTV, Fanscape, Red Bull, AEG’s Band Search, Music Today, and others that shall remain unnamed. With all of that said, it is completely obvious why these boys have the sound that they do: mainstream promotion. Don’t get me wrong, these boys possess some insane instrumental skills for their age and duration of time in the music industry, but they lack ingenuity. Their album is adorned with the fundamentals of metal and rock, yet with the stylistic attributes of other bands. Their distortion-heavy album reflects their age lyrically. It’s almost as if they threw some of them in merely to compliment the music, which appears to be a common amongst bands that have been heavily molested by MTV. When I found out that the majority of their tracks have been used for WWE matches and MMA fights, it seemed to make sense. What better for a sport that involves adrenaline-infused men beating the shit out of each other than pop lyrics with some slightly heavy metal? Sarcasm implied, but you can choose to ignore it if you wish. Back to the lyrics, structurally, they’re pop; they are catchy, clarified and repetitive. Another aspect of their lyrics that was very noticeable was the adolescent subject matter. Sure that is their age, but when you have such epic, raging metal, it’s difficult to make the connection between the dark, evil and twisted with the innocent and naïve. But as reinforced earlier, these kids can rock. They make ample use of their pedals, employ a massive amount of pinch harmonics, and top it off with intense drumming. But, almost every track can on the album is something that hard rock/metal fans have already heard before. Probably the most unique song on the album was “Gone”. With an intro that sounds like a less heavy Machine Head and gunning guitar licks, the track is pretty mind-blowing for such amateur musicians. The distortion is spread like butter throughout the track, and the chorus is punctuated by a pinch harmonic that acts as an exclamation point. “Adrenaline” parallels a toned-down Avenged Sevenfold, but the magic of the instrumentals is slighted by the filler lyrics discussed earlier. “Time Is Now” sounds almost too similar to Metallica’s Load album. While “Rock and Roll Dream” is almost identical to Nickelback’s “Rock Star” (just take a listen, you’ll see it) structurally, lyrically, and instrumentally (although the beginning sounds more like Nickelback’s “Animals”). Their track “Fade” features a knock-off intro from Metallica’s “Fade to Black” (which is also ironic due to Metallica’s tight relationship with MTV nowadays) and the singer vocally parallels a muffled Scott Stapp. “Nail in the Coffin” is accented by “heys” that are all too familiar to James Hetfield’s vocals in Metallica’s “Sad But True”, and contains some aspects of Ted Nugent with break-downs that are stylistically congruent with those found on Metallica’s St. Anger album (their worst album in my opinion). It is also comparable to Metallica’s “Better Than You”, but with a faster tempo. Their song “Nightmare”, which was featured in Rock Band, contains more equivalence to Metallica’s Load and Reload albums, with vocals sounding more and more like James Hetfield, and more instrumentals that can be traced to Metallica’s “Fade to Black”. In “Death of Me”, it is obvious that the lead singer is clearly trying to transition from Hetfield to Ozzy. Overall, I would say that yeah, Crooked X can conjure some bad-ass instrumentation, but they might be more suited to be a cover band, unless they want to start writing their own metal. Tracklisting:
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