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| Video for Art Brut’s New Single “Alcoholics Unanimous” Posted: 09 Mar 2009 04:33 PM PDT European indie rockers Art Brut are soon releasing their third studio album, Art Brut Vs Satan, April 20 in Europe on Cooking Vinyl Records and May 12 on Downtown Records in the US. The first single set to be released is “Alcoholics Unanimous”, whose video is available for viewing now. Related Posts |
| Remix Monday: Sebastien Tellier Posted: 09 Mar 2009 03:19 PM PDT
“Divine” “Divine” is the standout track from the album, but it's fairly ubiquitous in the music circles. It's summery, synthesized, drum machine pop and brilliant voice fragments, exactly what the Beach Boys would've sounded like if they started making music in the 80s. The song is so pleasant it effortlessly puts you in a good mood. Danger Remix This mix is pretty great, transforming summery pop to electro floor mover and featuring super cut up synths with a full force of speed, and a great stuttering cut up of the vocals. It’s very keyboard heavy and distorted, which is a slight contrast to Tellier’s sharp, smooth and clear vocals. But the duality meshes well together to create a song that by where you would usually bop your head to, you can now feverishly move your whole body. Sebastien Tellier - “Divine” (Danger Remix) “L’amour Et La Violence” This is a beautiful piano filled ballad. The initial minute of the song is so quiet, though provoking, peaceful and classical. Delicately sung in French, Tellier’s vocals that arrive add to the soft, blissful touch as he barely breathes the words from his lips. The song ever so slowly picks up as the seconds increase, creating a transient sound, giving the track a gorgeous urgency. If it would be apt to refer to a song as pretty, this is would be it. Sebastien Tellier - “L’amour Et La Violence” Boys Noize Remix Boys Noize is a gifted producer and musician. It almost seems wrong to remix a song as graceful as this, it also seems nigh impossible. But Boys Noize eloquently adjusts the tune making it a shapely number. The remix takes on an ethereal atmosphere, still maintaining the elegance and tranquility of the original, but with added house beats that give it oomph. It is also structurally ordered in a manner that allows for an alluring mystique; calm and steady instrumentals for the majority of the song, slowing down to let Tellier’s vocals whisper in to becoming the focal point, then fading out with the song finishing with the airy instrumentals. Sebastien Tellier - “L’amour Et La Violence” (Boyz Noize remix) “Kilometer” Kilometer isn’t an overly great song; it’s really driven by Tellier’s sensuous vocals that do justice to the album’s name ‘Sexuality’. Each time he sings his words are matched by a depression (more like a stab) of synthesizers, for a very appealing effect. It’s a down tempo song, with female moans in the background adding to the overall motif of the record. The programmed drum machine creates a percussion that invites a slinky and steamy aura into the room. Sebastien Tellier - “Kilometer” A-Trak Remix This mix is amazing. No other way to say it. I was at a house party last night of an ex soccer player, the place was amazing and late into the night when dawn was just about to break, the DJ played this track and I thought it was perfect. I usually don’t find A-Trak’s remixes that imaginative, he’s pretty repetitive in his style, but here it seems as if he’s had an infusion of inspiration. Or perhaps the talent goes to Tellier with providing A-Trak with something great to work with. The mix picks up the pace and pours down heavy house beats, still down tempo, but heavy enough that when I play these way too loud on my speakers (as I oft do) I feel the bass in the floors and in my chest. A-Trak leaves the crux of the song intact and works around the synths, so you have most of the original well and intact, but now presented with a burst of life. Sebastien Tellier - “Kilometer” (A-Trak remix)  Related Posts |
| Miniature Tigers with Ben Folds @ Electric Factory, Philadelphia Posted: 09 Mar 2009 02:46 PM PDT A serious Philadelphia chill did not keep lovebirds from flocking to the Electric Factory to catch a Valentine’s Day Ben Folds show. The sold out show was nearly packed to the gills for the opening band, Phoenix’s Miniature Tigers. Indie kids got a glimpse of a familiar face in Darren Robinson from the now on-hiatus Phantom Planet has joined front man Charlie Brand, Rick Shaier and Lou Kummerer on their 2009 tour. After kicking off their set with the infectiously sweet and story-like “Cannibal Queen” I was thrilled to be out of the cold and into a warm, happy set. Off to a great start, the band followed up with “The Wolf”, a surprisingly sexy song about a super magnetic girl that attracts all kinds of attention and the Wolf can’t shake the feeling of his encounter. They played more songs from the 2008 release, Tell it to the Volcano as well as some brand new works in progress that they confessed to practicing for the first time the night before. The songs were clever and well executed musically– definitely worth a listen if you haven’t gotten a chance. My companion and I were totally feeling the entire set with the exception of the final song that we felt slowed the entire vibe. The song was fantastic but it ended the eight-song set abruptly– I could definitely used another song of the Tell it to the Volcano variety. Miniature Tigers delivered an excellent performance befitting of a sappy fake holiday without being too cloying or “I hate Valentine’s Day.” Half the fun of going to a Ben Folds show is concocting the perfect fantasy set list replete with all of your favorite songs. I watched circles of people talk about what they hoped Folds would play or songs they’ve never heard him perform live. The wishlisting was put on hold for West Chester University’s GraceNotes to perform a few a capella numbers. The first two songs were barbershop songs from their repertoire which was a little out of place but in a good way. As one of the selected college a capella groups for an upcoming compilation, GraceNotes ended their set with a Ben Folds staple, “Fred Jones Pt 2″. The ladies sang their hearts out, showing they earned their spot fair and square on the upcoming release.
The filled room was then pleased to hear more classic Folds staples like “The Luckiest” which he dedicated to his wife on Valentine’s Day, “Army” and “Not The Same”. He played until after midnight with a three song encore that included “Zac and Sara”, “Kate” and “Philosophy”. Not a stone was left unturned and even if he didn’t hit all of my favorites, he definitely hit the important ones– everyone leaves a Ben Folds show happy. Every song felt special and unique and Folds made sure that the whole room felt the love on a chilly, snowy Valentine’s Day. Ben Folds Set List: Miniature Tigers: website | myspace  Related Posts |
| Posted: 09 Mar 2009 10:34 AM PDT On Behind Every Mask, Sleeper depicts a claustrophobic, Orwellian soundscape characterized by fuzzy, ominous tones and textures, industrial beats and paranoid coloring. Haunting and entrancing, the tracks that make up Behind Every Mask are all densely produced and succeed in embodying the techno-totalitarian feeling of dread that loomed over the Bush administration and continues to linger on into the new one. The only vocals that appear on the album do so in the form of low-quality sound bites, usually in-between songs though they sometimes appear within them, hovering over the menacing backdrop. Each one feels like the kind of thing you hear on 3 a.m. pirate broadcasts where people talk about government conspiracies and aliens and such even though most of the clips contain dialogue that is at best suggestive of only some slight mystery. At 16 tracks with only two under the three-minute mark, the consistent drudge of Behind Every Mask becomes tedious. Though none of the tracks bleed into each other or are so similar as to be confusing, with no deviation from the sound of sordid gloom and standout tracks, Behind Every Mask likely will only appeal to the most despondent ennui-junkies or those looking for music like the theme from The Terminator, only without the jolly Beach Boys feel. Behind Every Mask is available now. Tracklisting:  Related Posts |
| Posted: 09 Mar 2009 10:00 AM PDT
People Magazine (written by Fordham Senior Katie Kelly) New York Times (video) “U2 wakes up Fordham University” (written by Fordham Freshman Alex Young) “U2 Spends “A Beautiful Day” at Fordham” (written by Fordham Senior Lauren Gilger)
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