Archive for November, 2007



Point, Counterpoint. Or, maybe I should just get a Tumblr.

by michelle

Sasha Frere-Jones in The New Yorker: ‘But by the mid-nineties black influences had begun to recede, sometimes drastically, and the term “indie rock” came implicitly to mean white rock. Pavement, a group that the Village Voice rock critic Robert Christgau, in 1997, called “the finest rock band of the nineties—by critical acclamation,” embodied this trajectory.’

Ann Powers, et al in the LA Times: ‘But ‘[Frere-Jones'] piece is being read in the present tense, when in fact indie rock right now, like pop in general, is strikingly hybridized. This cross-fertilization is one of the most positive aspects of pop today. It’s been renewed by a love of dancing, cross-cultural collaborations forged on the Web, and the ever-growing diversity of fans themselves.’

It all winds down to how you define indie rock. The narrower, college rock/English major rock definition (Death Cab, Wilco, The Decemberists) vs. anything that would be reviewed in Pitchfork, but not present in the Billboard top 100 (Burial, M.I.A., CSS). I’m glad it’s hard to define.

White
Wilco – Jesus, etc.

Not exactly white
M.I.A. – Paper Planes

Am I black or white?
Michael Jackson – Black or White


Driven barmy…

by michelle

The Fall is one of those bands I know are important, I read about all the time, have been told are amazing, but for whatever reason I never made the effort to explore it for myself. I wish I could be as musically on top of everything as all the bloggers and critics I admire, but it’s just so draining. I don’t have enough heart to pass around for every amazing band of the moment, plus catch up on all the musical edumakation I’m desperately behind on. (I always feel like I’m behind.) It’s so tiring sometimes! I wonder whether the fact that technology increases the availability of music (how much gets put out and how frequently) doesn’t lessen our engagement with it.

I’m not making any shrill claims, and I certainly wouldn’t repeat David Brooks’ sentimental “it was better back in the day” chorus, but my relationship with music has changed significantly in the past 5 years. That may just be age and losing that passionate naivete. I’m grateful to technology for facilitating music discovery to an unheard of degree. I can read a wealth of interviews and reviews a click away. I can hear the music immediately, rather than hunting it down weeks later at a record store, if I remember. But in a strange way, the ease of technology creates an albatross-like imperative: because the music is there for the hearing, I feel the weight of duty to hear it. It’s no longer so innocent or left to chance. Fewer and fewer are the memorable personal stories of discovery: “I heard it while getting my haircut, wrote down the lyrics, and hunted it down” or “My first boyfriend introduced me to the Stooges,” as they are replaced by “Oh, I heard it on the internetz. Hype Machine? The Music Slut? I don’t remember.” And the music I do discover seems to last for a shorter and shorter period of time. It is probably the case that I fall in “real” love with the same number of albums per year as before, it’s just that these albums are accompanied by many, many more albums that pass into my range of hearing, clamoring for my attention. Is there such a thing as music fatigue? I know I sound like an ignorant luddite, and I’m fully aware of the bulletproof arguments against this line of thought, but I’m airing it anyway.

That said, I took it upon myself to listen to The Fall yesterday because I was reading Ann Powers’ list of Alt-Punk Essentials on eMusic. (She’s a critic for the LA Times. I <3 her.) I now understand the magnitude of their reputation. I cherish these belated discoveries, because they seem more personal, as though it took the right moment in my life to hatch, despite its greatness being there for the discovering all along. So, yes, thanks technology, I just need to figure out how to tame you.

The Fall – Barmy


Amanda Blank and Yo Majesty will step pon u.

by ian

I’ve been reloading Amanda Blank and Yo Majesty tracks hard since we caught them at the Spank Rock show during CMJ. Here’s a pic from the show. I love the way Jwl. B is fixing her cap so nonchalantly:

Amanda Blank is straight buffness. For the uninitiated her verse on Bump by Spank Rock should be all you need for convincing. But she’s got wicked variety – I’m currently loving her track on MySpace For the Unloved (Diplo Production). She sometimes posts pretty amusing stuff on Fuck Your Blog, Son. The story about her literally stepping on some dude in a bar cracked me up.

Spank Rock feat. Amanda Blank – Bump.

Yo Majesty are fucking sick but Jwl. B is on another fucking level! I just watched a interview where Beth Ditto asked them pretty lame questions. Transcript:

Beth Ditto: do you feel like you have to work harder because you are a black female in the music industry?
Jwl B (interrupting): hellll no i don’t give a damn
Beth Ditto: but do you think that other people give a damn, has it been hard?
Jwl B: well i’m gonna make it easy

She goes on to warn men not to fuck with Yo Majesty at their shows by telling a story about some guy she had to slap so hard he ricocheted on his seat.

Here’s my favourite track of theirs so far:

Yo Majesty – Kryptonite Pussy (UMYO remix)


Pure genius!

by michelle

We’ve been neck-deep in charts over here for an exciting new feature that’s in the works. Charts can be incredible in displaying certain facts. And, so, I thank my friend Fred for pointing out some charts of pure genius. (Don’t get a PhD! It’s a playa-hating degree.) I will give my annotated shortlist.

Rap represented in mathematical charts and graphs. Be sure to click on the images to listen to the song via YouTube. The best thing about this is it’s mostly from the 90s!

Can I Get It in the Morning? Jay-Z would be proud of this flow chart. No? FUCK YOU!

Places You Are Most Likely to Find Mase’s Money Hanging Out Of. As explained by “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down.”

Fig 4A. Unified Bitch Theory, Drs. Dre and Dogg. Shit does not include bitches.

Time Spent High. Ah, the beauty of simplicity.

Wishlist. Poor Skee-lo.


A love song for when you love despite.

by michelle

This Yo La Tengo track is a perfect moody Sunday song. A delicate tribute to the much-ignored part of being in a relationship: the messy, difficult, undefinable in-between times when you’re so far in, you don’t know who’s right or wrong anymore, and what it is you’re fighting about. And yet there you are anyway because, well, is it habit, fear, or is it real?

I want to quote the lyrics so badly because they are evocative of a pulsing, familiar thing. But I won’t because I always find that lyrics read sad and bare–even cliched–when the words are unaccompanied. So just listen to the song.

Yo La Tengo – The Crying of Lot G


Ladies and gentlemen we are floating on the N3 bus

by ian

I’ve never really associated a particular sound with London night buses. I’ve taken them thousands of times back from whatever club down to Trafalgar Square, then deep into South London, often hood up, often walkman on, settling in for the 2 hour trek home. But there is a sound, it’s the tenor of the music you pick for that journey. It’s melancholy for sure, the echo after the rave. It’s comforting, full of synths in time with the wheels of the bus, staring out into lonely night time London.

It’s the London I love, the London of Mass, of the End, of bashy warehouse parties, of groundbreaking music: my history of pilgrimages to hear that new bass thud. But I’ve never found a sound for the afterglow, the hours after the club, the last hours before dawn.

Burial’s second album is just that. It’s a simply amazing tribute to characterless backstreets, the sheer size of London and the distance of dark you have to return through. The sound of lonely voices curling out of alleyways, the quiet melancholy joining a night out and a warm bed. Nothing left, just an afterglow. If Spiritualized’s Ladies and Gentlemen was the greatest post break up album, this is the greatest post club record. It makes me feel good about the hours I’ve spent sat on night buses, makes it suddenly feel inseparable from the reasons I love London.

His first album hinted at this but in Untrue he’s taken the melancholy tone of tracks like Distant Lights and Forgive and created an entire album full of the sounds of a cold walk, a rattling bus, agro at the bus stop, rainy streets, a club door swinging shut behind you and filled it with the heartbeat of one person, making their way home. It’s incredible, the best record I’ve heard all year.

2 from his debut:
Burial – Forgive
Burial – Distant Lights

And 2 from Untrue.
Burial – Archangel
Burial – Raver

King of dubstep commentary Blackdown has a great interview with burial here, I also like K-dub’s comparison of Burial to Joy Division. I’ve just discovered his blog and will be reading it a lot more from now on.


Oh hi, I’m in love with music again.

by michelle

Caribou, sweet jesus! No seriously, sweet jesus. I was talking to Ian yesterday about how I haven’t been really, truly obsessed with a band since Wolf Parade in 2005. Obsession where it becomes the soundtrack to a period of your life, and your memories of that time are inextricable from the music. Sure there has been amazing music that I’ve loved, but I listen to it pretty intensely for a very brief period of time (days, maybe a couple of weeks, tops), and then… I kind of forget about it. Even forget that I heard it at all. It doesn’t ingrain itself into my waking and sleeping moments for months on end.

I’m sure we’ve all been disillusioned with music, but when you’re working on a music-related start-up it starts to feel like a really pathetic existential quandary.

I discovered Caribou on NPR’s All Songs Considered, one of my favorite podcasts. (Check NPR music’s pretty awesome redesign.) Definitely my longest-running subscription to a podcast. I’ve found so much awesome new music through that show. I was immediately taken by Dan Snaith’s voice and the ethereal intersection of genres. (The dude has a Ph.D. in math.) It’s got the sun-drenched sound of ’60s psychedelia with weird quirky IDM production and the somber quiet of Yo La Tengo at times. It’s postmodern in all the ways postmodern can really, actually work. EW, I’m an awful music writer, but whatever, that’s what the “mp3″ part of “mp3 blog” is for. Have a listen.

Caribou – Sandy. Check the dripping ’60s goodness.

Caribou – Niobe. Boards of Canada and trancey builds.

I just bought tickets to see him at the end of the month! I’m so so so excited!


Covers are for lovers

by michelle

My song of the summer was Grizzly Bear’s “The Knife.” (Yes, I realize I’m slow, ok??) I just played it over and over, it’s such a devastating song. Grizzly Bear’s Friend EP was recently released, which features this cover by CSS. (I can’t wait to get my hands on it.) The cover carries a similar melancholy feel, but with a dejected edge. It’s just everything a great cover is supposed to be.

Grizzly Bear – The Knife
Cansei de Ser Sexy – The Knife (Grizzly Bear cover)

And in honor of the adorable indie/electro/nu-rave/disco-punk/whatever couple of the year (get your mitts on the Songkick sticker if you can!), here’s a cover by the Klaxons as a freebie. Sadly, it’s a lot more exciting in theory than actuality. Maybe I just listened to that song way too much in high school.

Klaxons – No Diggity (Blackstreet cover)


David Bowie partially deconstructed.

by michelle

So an intrepid reader clued me into the English version of the ad. It’s a little longer, but just as confusing.

The tag line is: “The Vittel formula contains the secret of new life. Re-vittelize.” This time around I noticed that when he’s getting the bottle from the fridge, he looks pretty pissed because the water is almost gone. Does that mean his past selves have been drinking his water? Is the clean and normal Bowie the revitalized Bowie? Or is it thanks to the water that he’s had so many incarnations of himself? Hmmm….


Deconstructing David Bowe

by michelle

Got this YouTube video from a post about American pop stars in Japanese ads. It’s from one of my favorite blogs, Wired’s Listening Post.

I wish I could understand Japanese because I think this ad is so funny. What is it saying? “I’m David Bowie, and I’ve become a normal functioning member of society, no longer wearing makeup or crazy get-ups… All thanks to Vittel water.” Is that even a good thing?

David Bowie – Five Years
Arcade Fire – Five Years (cover)