Please do yourself a favor and take a listen to Tape Deck Mountain. His new album, Ghost, due out 11/17 courtesy of Lefse Records, is a lo-fi but lush and emotional work of a talented new artist.
According to his PR, Travis Trevisan lost his job about a year ago and sat at home and made music. Sometimes, unemployment works wonders. Trevisan sings in a kind of Casiotone for the Painfully Alone monotone, but the fuzzy, dour, and always interesting musical arrangements that accompany his voice range from brief Guided By Voices and Pixies-influenced rock to more expansive excursions into post-rock soundscapes.
Tape Deck Mountain will be playing some California dates this November. Check his MySpace page for details.
As a fan of all things George Romero, be they good (Dawn of the Dead) or bad (Diary of the Dead), I wanted to post the new poster for the loose remake of The Crazies, coming out on February 26th. It would seem that this “reinvention” of the original film could only be better (although Romero’s does have its merits), but odds are that it will be worse.
The Crazies stars Timothy Olyphant, Radha Mitchell, Danielle Panabaker, and Joe Anderson, and the plot centers around a town that is “beset by insanity and then death after a mysterious toxin contaminates their water supply” (from the press release). Breck Eisner directs.
Timing can be a bitch or a blessing. The LA band-as-collective Fool’s Gold releases their debut record of lithe, African-influenced dance-pop with a Hebrew slant on the heels of Vampire Weekend supremacy and a new album from Matisyahu. Valid or not, comparisons are inevitable, especially with the former. Such is the nature of music criticism and wonkery.
This is not really fair, though, as Fool’s Gold’s musical range and motivation are very different animals from these other bands. Yes, bassist/vocalist Luke Top sometimes makes an unfortunate choice by appearing to mimic a generic African patois, at least when he’s not singing in Hebrew, which he does on much of the record. But the music that Fool’s Gold makes is expertly woven into rich tapestries of poly-rhythms, percussion, horns, and spidery guitar lines. The album’s opening track, “Surprise Hotel,” is the band at its best, mellifluously and smartly embarking upon a journey through West African melodies. Indeed, Africa is the source for most of the record, but it’s not the only inspiration. “Poseidon” finds the band flirting with ‘80s indie-pop, something the members would most likely proudly acknowledge, as guitarist Lewis Pesacov cites The Smiths as one of his many influences.
Fool’s Gold goes way beyond Graceland as a reference point, and Luke Top’s nod to his Israeli roots is really not the same as an orthodox Jew doing dancehall reggae. So let’s let bygones be bygones and ignore recent events, because Fool’s Gold’s music offers too much pleasure to write off as just another drop in the bucket of popular trends.
Isaac Brock’s BFF band, Holopaw, will return this November with a new album, Oh, Glory. Oh, Wilderness, on a new label, Bakery Outlet. Listen to “The Art Teacher and the Little Stallion” here.
The band sounds like they’ve been energized and rejuvenated over the past few years, still keeping things pretty but rocking every so slightly harder. Singer John Orth’s vocals still trill about horse and nature imagery, especially when it comes to the Little Stallion character which is supposed to be the subject of much of the record.
The tracklist:
1. The Art Teacher and the Little Stallion
2. Black Lacquered Shame
3. Boys on Motorbikes
4. Cherry Glow
5. The Conductor and the Hobbyist (Avalanche)
6. The Last Transmission (Honeybee)
7. The Lazy Matador
8. Little Stallion with a Glass Jaw
9. Oh, Glory
10. P-a-l-o-m-i-n-e
11. Snow-packed Hush
It’s a Fool’s Gold pool party. Lizards, old men, ladies in bathing suits… just like pool parties when you were a kid.
This song has grown on me quite a bit. When you get past the indie-rock-meets-Africa trend going on these days, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it’s not hard to hear that these guys know their shit and know how to play said shit quite well.
Real Estate have a new album coming out on Woodsist this November, and you can hear a track off of the record, “Beach Comber,” here. The song is shimmery, pretty, and does not go at all with the WWII action movie, Kelly’s Heroes, that I’m watching right now.
Another band covers Animal Collective’s “My Girls,” and only sort of does it justice. Here Dappled Citiestake. Is it just me or are these vocals kind of off-key…?
Oh, shit, another release from DOOM? And this one (Unexpected Guests) also seems to feature previously released material? What the fuck, DOOM???? OK, fine, the press release says it’s non-album tracks specially selected by DOOM himself. Great. But I’m sure you’ve heard some of these before:
Tracklist (Final tracks and running order TBA)
1. Get ‘Er Done feat. DOOM – Jake One
2. Fly That Knot feat. DOOM – Talib Kweli
3. Sniper Elite feat. DOOM – Dilla Ghostface DOOM
4. Trap Door feat. DOOM – Jake One
5. Sorcerers feat. DOOM & Invizible Handz – John Robinson
6. Da Supafriendz – Vast Aire
7. Quite Buttery – Count Bass D feat DOOM
8. ? – DOOM featuring Kurious
9. All Outta Ale – DOOM
10. E.N.Y. House – Masta Killa
11. Bells of DOOM – DOOM
12. My Favorite Ladies – DOOM
13. Street Corners (Remix) – Masta Killa, Inspectah Deck & GZA
Still, it’s a new(ish) DOOM record, and that can’t be bad, right?
Royce Da 5′9″ releases his new album, Street Hop (One Records), on 10/20. Get an idea of what he’s up to with “Part of Me,” available for download here. Sounds kinda sensitive and introspective. Maybe DJ Premier’s executive production helped him get in touch with himself, or maybe it was that year in prison. Either way, it’s a welcome change.
If you didn’t love Polvo in the ’90s, they are back and you have no excuse. Read why:
Polvo, you’ve been missed. The standout band of the school of ‘90s-indie rock has returned, a reunion that should overshadow Slint, Dinosaur, Sebadoh… hell, even the Pixies. A bold statement, perhaps, but one given muscle by the quality of the band’s new album.
This is the Polvo you know and love-twisted passages of guitar lines curling over one another, frantic drum breaks, raga-like transitions, hypnotic noise jams. The better moments on the album, such as opening track “Right the Relation” and “Beggars Bowl,” are ones that furiously rock with agitated fervor. Power chords, discordant riffs, and bass thumps start and stop at the drop of a dime. But the band is also in good form when it’s subdued, as on the nine-minute closing track, “A Link in the Chain.” Polvo’s voice remains one of the most unique in guitar-based indie rock. Though you can hear its influence in countless bands making music today, no one does it quite like the originators.
You just can’t wait till Joakim releases his new album, Milky Ways (K7), next week, can you? Calm down and download this mix to tide you over.
The Milky Mix tracklist:
1. O.M.D. – Electricity (Micronauts remix)
2. E.A.R. – Submarine
3. Dragons of Zynth – Anna Mae
4. John Foxx – Metal Beat
5. Joakim – Fly Like An Apple
6. James Pants – Rhythm Track 9
7. Pom Pom – Untitled
8. Soft Rocks – Black Magic
9. Vanessa Paradis – Des Que J’te vois (Joakim unreleased remix)
10. Red Dragon Band – Let Me Be Your Radio pt 1
11. The Rolling Stones – Undercover Of the Night
12. SPK – Dance Du Metal (I:Cube Edit)
13. Joakim – Watermelon Bubblicious
14. Sweet Exorcist – Mad Jack
15. Yura Yura Teikoky – Hollow Me (Alternate Version)
16. Dj Deeon – Exctacy
17. The Beatles – Helter Skelter (demo)
18. Goslings – Croatan
19. Acid Mothers Temple – Electric Love Machine
20. Dennis Wilson – Farewell My Friend
