You are currently browsing the monthly archive for November, 2006.
The other day I was just sitting around, waiting for The Arcade Fire to give me some new songs to listen to. Around lunch I realized that that was not going to happen anytime soon and I was sad. Then I came across a band that seemed to say, “Don’t be sad, Tam! We may not be The Arcade Fire, but we can rock the orchestral, melody-driven indie just as hard.” I should probably worry about the fact that I have imaginary conversations with bands, but what I’ve heard from We All Have Hooks For Hands so far is worth a little bit of schizophrenia.
They’re an eight-man band - they just added their last two members two months ago - from Sioux Falls who, according to their myspace bio, started this band as a side project for their friends, so “let’s fucking have fun”. Well, Mission Accomplished. Even though I’m not their friend, I’m having the time of my life listening to them.
The three songs on their myspace page make me feel like a kid in front of a closed toy store, because I want something to take home with me now. Luckily they are working on a full length album and I hope they’re hurrying. Apparently they have released an EP, but it’s harder to find than WMDs in Iraq. I may not be the most topical blogger, but it still applies.
Buy this album, it’ll be the best £5 you’ve ever spent, I promise. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll … well, you’ll probably laugh some more. And you’ll do crazy dances you didn’t know you could do.
And if you’ve ever wondered what The Partridge Family would sound like if they went glam while on vacation in Tahiti, here’s the answer.
The Sweet - Co-Co
This was a darn fine concert week for 100b. All the bands we saw this past week were amazing in their own way. We went to the Two Gallants show in the Paradiso’s Small Hall last weekend who were supported by the Cold War Kids - it’s very rare that we get so excited about a support band. And with good reason, because they knocked our socks off! “Saint John” was the highlight for me because I was wondering how they were going to perform the organized chaos that comes together so beautifully into the most funky soul song ever. Even though I saw it, I still wonder how they came up with it in the first place. They’re coming back in February with Elvis Perkins and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and you knows we do not want to miss that partay, baby.
Two Gallants were very serious about their craft and made me hope I’ll find something that I’m as passionate about as they are about making music. They obviously love to perform and get the crowd itching for the next song like they’ve been living in a musical desert. They managed to give the audience a glimpse of an America at a time when the West was wild and the outlaws were heroes. Billy the Kid woulda been proud. Together the two bands gave us the perfect concert experience and we were surprised to see Alec CYHSY Ounsworth in the crowd. For just a split second I actually thought, but we’re in Amsterdam, aren’t we? Afterwards we found that it’s impossible to compare the two bands. They’re both so different but equally, stupendously good.
Cold War Kids - Saint John
Two days ago we also went to see Tapes n Tapes. They seem like four regular guys who just happened to have figured out the formula to amazingly beautiful songs. And thank Moses they did. It was their bass player’s birthday and the last gig of their European tour so it turned into a fun celebration. They seemed genuinely happy and surprised that the Small Hall was packed with some almost scary, intense fans. They didn’t have a support band and they came on really fast, so everything went by in a flash, which is not a comment on their skills. On the contrary, afterwards we were left wanting much, much more. They have only had one album out, so I was just being a greedy little fangirl. Oh yeah, it was a goooood week for 100b.
My favorite song was also my highlight of the night:
I want to add a little shoutout to aDawgg for his first excellent post. Bow-wow, aDawgg, bow-wow.
Imagine, if you will, Dr. Moreau gets it into his devious mind he just has to create an energetic English indie music hybrid. He digs the Arctic Monkeys — being English and all — so he bundles them up in a burlap sack and secrets them away to his island. Then, he realizes it’d be mighty sweet if he added a bid of Brummie-style swagger, so he shanghais Mike Skinner.
Once he has all the pieces in place, Moreau splices the genes from Skinner with those of Alex Turner, ensuring a nice blend of the later’s sound with the a hint of the former’s vocal style sans the hip-hop derived vibe. What does that pungent stew produce?
Yep. Bromheads Jacket.
Be warned! If the Arctic Monkeys aren’t high on your list of favorites or you don’t like The Streets, this new Sheffield trio’s November 13 debut Dits From The Commuter Belt may not be your cup of tea. However, you need to know that simply describing them as an Arctic-Streets mash-up doesn’t do them one bit of justice. It’s only meant to give you an inkling of what to expect. As a celebration of that we won’t mention those other two by name for the rest of this post.
The Bromheads sound is sometimes darker and often much heavier (or purposefully rougher) than their better known Yorkshire brethren and they are definitely different than anything the Birmingham hip-hopper cum crooner has done. In fact, listening to Dits while typing up my thoughts makes me feel like going out for one of those how-did-I-get-stuck-in-a-dumpster piss ups! It’s music for getting to the party with or for making it through long and dreary days slaving away to make someone else lots of money. It perks you up and gets you ready to roll!
I knew one of the singles would be “Trip To The Golden Arches” even before scrounging up confirmation it’s their third off the album. How could it not be with such an incredibly catchy chorus to lure you in within the first 50 seconds: Who’d have thought you could have so much fun … staring at two headlights, wishing you had a gun. Oh, it wasn’t supposed to turn out like this. I only popped out for a banana milkshake … and a super-sized pack of chips.
Other standout tracks include “One Nautical Mile” (another of those to-the-party songs), the poignant “Poppy Bird” (listen carefully to the conclusion of the story), “Fight Music For The Fight” (driving bass and drums – grrr!), and “He Likes Them Airbrushed” (featuring the excellent line She might look good, yeah. She might look nice. She might get inside your head. … But will she still be your Angelina Jolie when she farts in bed?)
Before you buy the album (which I believe you should), you can give them a whirl for free. Download their first two singles — “What Ifs & Maybes” and “Woolley Bridge” — from the official Bromheads Jacket site or listen to all three singles on their MySpace page. Do it! You owe it to yourself!
Bromheads Jacket - Woolley Bridge
Bromheads Jacket - What Ifs & Maybes
I am certainly not the first to notice that Eddie Murphy hasn’t been raw in ages. I watched Delirious the other day and it’s a shame that the once so sharp, edgy and badass comedian is now so Disney that he probably has his own ride at the Magic Kingdom.
When I was little I didn’t get most of the stand up stuff yet, but I loved Beverly Hills Cop I and II and The Golden Child still guarantees a fun night of TV. Eddie Murphy rocked the eighties. Though not all his decisions at the time resulted in his best work, like the time he decided to take over the music world. “Party All The Time” was a big hit when it came out in 1985, but my god, why? It sucks donkey butts. He must have been so big back then that people didn’t care what the hell he dished out as long as his face was on it. I was totally prepared to give it a chance, after all the eighties was the decade that taste forgot, but even with that in mind it is still one of the worst things I’ve ever exposed my ears to. It’s written and produced by Rick James and he also sings along at the end, while Eddie sings the ball-pinching high parts.
Check out the video on youtube. Clearly no expenses were spared, it features some of Eddie’s kick ass moves and Rick James’ awesome blond do that, some might say, made him look like a scary cocker spaniel.
Back in high school and my first few years at university, I mostly listened to hip-hop and very little else. At the time, there was no other music that even came close to someone like Missy Elliott, or at least not that I knew about. Man, she just blew my mind. I definitely wanted to be her when I grew up.
I haven’t listened to her in ages, but she still kicks all your asses. It was harder than I thought to pick out just one song to post here. The only trouble with Missy is that none of her albums, as great as they are, are really perfect as a whole. I once saw a list in NME of great artists who’d never made a great album and they had her on there, something the NME actually got right for once. But, dude, I could make a bad-ass Best Of full of some of the best hip-hop songs of the last ten years. This one with Timbaland (from Miss E … So Addictive) wasn’t one of Missy’s fabulous singles, but it’s one of my favorites.
Missy Elliott - Whatcha Gon’ Do
There’s an interesting discussion going on over at Drowned In Sound’s new-ish sub-site Discover about how people go about finding new music and bands. I expected to be intimidated by the time and energy that the commenters devote to hunting down new stuff, but I was actually suprised by what a lot of them said. Most have sites they check regularly or rely on friend’s recommendations, but a lot also said that they have to keep their searching narrowed down to a few places to keep from being completely overwhelmed by the sheer volume of new music available.
I feel the same way and, while I’d love to be able to spend even more of my time surfing around for the Next Great Thing, I usually have to limit my regular searching to whatever I have time for right then. A lot of people on DiS mentioned that they try to check out support bands when they can. Tam and I do that too, but we don’t get the decent support bands around these parts that are often found in the UK, for example. It very rarely pays off. But every once in a while, you get lucky. We expected Final Fantasy to be just another guy we’d have to sit through but he really blew us away, left us speechless. And this coming weekend, we’ll get to see Cold War Kids support Two Gallants, though we had no idea they were touring together when Tam bought the tickets. It’s doesn’t happen often, but sometimes support acts can be a goldmine.
Tam herself is probably my favorite source of new stuff. She and I constantly share our finds with each other - we even make each other mix cds from time to time of our recent favorites. Yup, mix cds - we do it old school up in here. If it wasn’t for her, I may never have known about The Kills, The Black Keys, The Decemberists, Two Gallants, The Fratellis - the list could go on for a very long time. By combining our, um, powers, we manage cover a lot of ground.
If I talked up emusic any more, I could probably be their pimp, but they are a fantastic way to try out something different. The cost of using emusic is so outrageously low, I’m happy to use my downloads on something I’ve never heard before, or an album I’ve read about but I’m not sure I’d like, or just something that has a cool cover. There’s almost no risk and they have a massive amount of music available. Sites like the previously mentioned Drowned In Sound, rockfeedback, and playlouder are pretty much the only places I’ll dare go to for reviews. I don’t always agree with them, but I’m not looking to read my own opinion. I trust that they’ll have a point to make whether I agree with it or not.
But everyone’s ultimate source has to be the insane amount of music blogs out there on the Interweb. I have a huge folder of bookmarked blogs, which I try to go through once a week. That rarely happens, but I always have a look at what they’ve got going on at Badminton Stamps, my all-time favorite music blog. Those guys over there are fantastic - they’re funny, smart, always post something interesting, and, most importantly, are never snobby about any genre. They’ll post Public Enemy, Arcade Fire, and Billy Idol in the same day and seem to appreciate them all for what they are. I’m also a big fan of The Daily Growl and Good Weather For Airstrikes, among too many others to mention. I suppose I look for like-minded bloggers - if someone’s posted about some bands that I already like, I’m likely to take their suggestions on the ones I haven’t heard of.
So, using a magic combination of all this stuff, and whatever else I can squish into my, ahem, busy schedule, I’m just able to keep my head above the constant flood of new music. I’m glad to know that it’s not just me that can get overwhelmed. Geez, how on earth do some people find time to do more than this?!
I got very excited when I first heard this band. I’ve been craving some seriously rockin’ tunes, because though wonderful, the last few new bands I came across have been mellow and sweet.
What a breath of fresh air The Ettes are! Imagine if in some alternate universe Nancy Sinatra had fronted The Stooges. They’re stompin’ loud, psychedelic and fronted by an ass-kicking lady. Their debut album Shake The Dust came out two months ago. You can sneak a taste of it over on myspace. Especially “Dead And Gone” really gets my blood flowing, the garage bluesy wall of sound and the angry vocals are absolutely exhilarating.
Here’s “No More Surprises” from lumberjackmordam.com:
Oh, it’s just too easy.
Most Poptastic entries - or just any song that’s so bad it’s good - were cool at some point, as silly as they might seem now. The funniest thing about Gerardo’s 1991 single, “Rico Suave”, is that it was never cool. I remember aDawgg and I making fun of it even way back then, and I was only 11 at the time. Man, it must be bad if even a 6th-grader thinks it’s ridiculous.
If you’ve blanked it out of your memory, well, who could blame you? Refresh yourself by watching the video, if you dare.
Gerardo - Rico Suave
The Bean has inspired me to listen to The Kills when I need to feel invincible. This song never fails to get me pumped and I had to turn to it twice this week. If I was a boxer this song would be played while I step into the ring.
We saw them play last year and the title song from their album No Wow comes really close to sounding as sensual and dangerous as they look in concert. This is not the band to go see when you’re just out for a laugh, but if you love them they more than live up to their recordings. VV paces the stage like a caged panther and her bandmate Hotel seems to be the only one who can come close to her without losing a limb. At one point, I felt like I was looking in on a very private moment between them. They create such an intimate and dark world on stage that I cannot imagine them ever hanging out on the couch enjoying an episode of Seinfeld, but they sure can put up a great and memorable show.
Here it is for all of you who need to feel like you can take on the world.
The Kills - No Wow
Yes indeed, running late again. I couldn’t open blogger at all yesterday or today, but apparently it’s just me and my browser since no one else seems to be having trouble. I’ll use another browser until I can figure out what’s going on, but it’s weird - like seeing a familiar place from a new angle for the first time. Everything looks the same, only different.
Anyway, my New Band for this week is a rule-breaker, but I found a loophole. The Bicycles’ debut album, The Good, The Bad And The Cuddly came out in May, but you can only get it from a few places in the States and Canada, as far as I know. I even emailed Rough Trade a few months ago looking for a copy. I eventually gave in and paid the international shipping from Insound and waited patiently by the mailbox.
So, from a European perspective, The Bicycles still qualify for New Band Day status since they have no releases over here. I originally found out about them via a post on The Boy Least Likely To’s Blog (their recent tourmates). The Bicycles make the most heartwarmingly charming music I’ve heard in as long as I can remember. If you mixed up some early Beatles, The Monkees, The Partridge Family, maybe some Neil Diamond and The Kinks - and threw in a touch of Motown and doo-wop for good measure - and poured it out in a recording studio in Canada, you’d have The Bicycles. They’re sweeter than The Magic Numbers, The Boy Least Likely To, and Belle & Sebastian combined. Those bands all have a darker edge deep down in their music; if you looked for an edge in The Bicycles, the most you’d find is a lightish grey. And to top it off, they even have a cover of The Monkees’ “Cuddly Toy” on the album (though it could also be a Harry Nilsson cover, since he wrote it and all - I just know the Monkees’ version best).
Don’t listen to The Bicycles if you don’t want to feel good about, well, pretty much everything. You’ve been warned. But if you’re ready to embrace pure joy, download a few of their songs from their website, or have a listen on their myspace page.
So far the Poptastic Day songs have been mostly cheesy, but really not bad at all. Sometimes even really wonderful. This one is not. I cannot stand this song. I never could, but it’s such a part of my nineties experience that I don’t mind hearing it every once in a while either. I’m repelled and drawn to it at the same time. Kinda like the way I feel about Bugles. Naaah, I’m lying. I love Bugles.
“No Limit” was one of the Dutch band 2 Unlimited’s hits and it is still played and sampled a lot. I saw that rapper guy Ray in the street a few months ago. He’s smaller than he looks and he still has that same hair. Hm-hm, it was quite the brush with fame.
2 Unlimited - No Limit
I’m scared to write about The Decemberists, because they are important in the world of 100b. I’m scared that I’ll just fall into total ridiculous hyperbolic praise, which can be quite off-putting. All I can say is that The Crane Wife is yet again a total gem. It hasn’t kicked Picaresque off the top of the list yet, but everytime I listen to it it comes closer and closer. They’re the kind of band I don’t really want to share with people, because it’s so nice to pretend that I’m the only one who knows about something this special. But then you feel guilty because it’s wrong to keep something so beautiful to yourself. Ok, that was exactly why I was hesitant to write about them. Like I said, there’s no way I should be allowed to explain how much we love them. But luckily I don’t have to because Bean pointed out that the folks of Tiny Mix Tapes have done it for me. I’m a lazy cow, I know, but they totally nailed it.
The first song that caught my ear was “Yankee Bayonet”. Colin Meloy and Laura Veirs’ voices are beautiful together. - I have to admit that I thought that it was Jenny Conlee’s voice, but the ever astute Bean pointed out that it was in fact miss Veirs’. - The way they can turn a song into a tragedy is truly amazing. I don’t know how they do it, but with a few lines they can transport you to a long forgotten time. I can’t imagine myself ever getting tired of their timeless stories.
And now it’s time for the amazing Single Of The Month. The sun is not the only thing that comes up for free, you can download the new Larrikin Love song, “Cucumber”, for FREE too! I said it before but damn, I do love me some free stuff. It’s a one time free download from 7digital.com, the new online music store. It’s a great deal and the song is so much fun. I promise I didn’t pick them because of my love for everything gratis. Larrikin Love has this amazing abillity to make you wish you were at that crazy party with them when they recorded the song. And it’s free.
Download it here, you have to subscribe to 7digital first but it only takes a minute and it’s totally worth it.
In other news, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin have re-released their incredible debut album Broom on Polyvynil on october 24th. I wish I could Jedi Mind Trick everybody into buying it, because every song has a moment in it that feels like a beautiful secret.
Here’s “House Fire” via their official site. This song is amazing, the lyrics are slightly disturbing, but the vocals make it sound sad and funny at the same time.
I just got a big fat pile of new albums and there’s more on the way, so I really wanted to post something from one of them. But we’ve already posted and gushed about most of the bands in that pile: The Decemberists, The Blood Arm, Jeremy Warmsley, Hot Club De Paris, Cold War Kids… I haven’t yet posted about Peter, Bjorn And John. (I may actually be the only blogger on God’s green earth that hasn’t, but I caught on to them a little late.)
So I finally did catch up with the rest of the cool kids and I love them now too. And they’ve got this song called “Amsterdam”. And I live in (well, nearish) Amsterdam and spend most of my not-home time there. Sometimes I love Amsterdam, usually in the summer when it’s all nice out and the people of Amsterdam forget for just a little while that they hate everyone else in the city. In the winter, it just rains constantly (pretty much from October to May, nothing but rain) and it’s grey and dismal and the people go back to being grumpy and rude. There’s a never-ending list of bands coming through here, so we’ve got that on our side, and that’s a giant plus. But other than that and getting wasted and rowdy, there’s not all that much else to do. There’s ok shopping, but not great. I guess I have a love-hate relationship with the city itself - sometimes it seems so pretty with all the lovely old buildings and stuff and sometimes it’s just a regular dirty city with pee-stink alleys like everywhere else.
Anyway, my feelings about the city may be mixed, but I sure do like this.
Peter, Bjorn And John - Amsterdam
These guys are fresh from the LA section of the New Band pond. Everything about them screams that they’re destined for great things. Their songs have depth both lyrically and musically without getting pretentious. More importantly they have ehm, blog-buzzabillity, yeah it’s a new word I just came up with. I mean they’re the kind of band that, like Tapes n Tapes and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah before them, are very likely to have the blogosphere launch them to dizzying Indie heights.
The four songs they have for your downloading pleasure feel new. They sound great, but you can kind of tell they’re still exploring the direction they’re going in. I have to say, if these are the product of a band coming into their own, I cannot wait to hear what they’ll sound like after, oh say, a year of playing. Here’s my favorite of the four. Download them all from their site or MySpace.
