Sign of the Apocalypse

 

Sorry this is priceless.  Does this photo have absolutely everything or what?  A ginger man with  a driveway full of boomboxes, wearing jorts and white tennis shoes.  Amen.

Talib Kweli & Mos Def collaborate with Dirty Projectors and Roots on Fallon

 A few nights ago, Amber Coffman and Haley Dekle from the Dirty Projectors joined Mos Def and Talib Kweli for Def's song "History" on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.  House band The Roots provided the rhythm and beats as always, the ladies sang backing vocals, and the two BK MCs did their thing, offering a small glimpse into the fact that both are still some of the best around, though I prefer Kweli any day.  This collaboration comes a week after The Roots joined Dirty Projectors on stage at their show in New York.  Future collaboration?  Spread love, it's the Brookly way.

Alberta Cross Headlining Dates

Our favorite London/Brooklyn transplanters Alberta Cross will finally get their due at the end of the year, hitting the road in the US for a headlining tour that rolls through early February.  Their recent opening set at the Electric Factory was amazing, proof that they are more than deserving of their own audience.  There are some great, intimate venues on the list too.  New Years Resolution:  See this band.... Full tour dates after the jump

The Answer to Thanksgiving Noise is....

...more noise, in the form of the Russian Circles latest album Geneva.  Whether your fantasy football team lost or your lover is a pillow, this shit is therapeutic.  Sometimes the low-end rumble and 3-4 drum beats sound like a bad dream slowly coming true, but wait it out and there are moments of euphoric emotional beatdown that beg your attention.  Never before has this Chicago trio been more concise or attack minded, and I like it.  Imagine Sigur Ros getting beat up by a glacier over a slice of Chicago deep dish.  Atmospheric grieving at its solemn metal best.



See Russian Circles on tour now.  I am, bitches.

Hear "Fathom"

Philly Phish

Nothing better than Fall Phish in the Northeast.  This may as well be submitted as fact for the Encyclopedias of tomorrow. It's funny and amazing what 9 years away from the table can make you forget, and what half an hour back can make you remember.   

Phish playing at the Wachovia was like finding a phone number under the pillow, too tempting not to call back.  10 miles from my desk.  I had to go.  And I went in blind, expecting nothing more than the slight buzz I made sure swirled in my Broad Street appropriate plastic cup.  Foolish. 

"Chalkdust Torture" kicked off the evening, the band all-smiles and Trey sporting a Flyers jersey, and soloed it's way to a "Bathtub Gin" that had the effect of both parts, warming and intoxicating the crowd.  Then, bananas.  In response to an upfront fan wielding a giant sign, Phish dropped into "Cities", the rare Talking Heads gem, that included altered lyrics "Do I smell home cooking... it's only Thanksgiving."  "Camel Walk" stunned the already stunned, and issued the 'buckle up' statement to the entire room, all of whom were having way too much fun to heed.  The band was visibly enjoying themselves, riding the wave of simple swagger that perfection of these seldom played tunes offered. 

Full Review After the Jump.... Get Some

Sorry Kids....

Doctors, hippies, turkeys.... a lot going on in my neighborhood lately.  Sorry for the holes in musical bliss.  Hopefully you took the time away from your computers to enjoy family, football, loose women or men, and whatever nectar whatever God you prefer prefers....

Now, where were we....

Box of the Week: Country With An Attitude!

Mindbending New Videos from Charlotte Gainsbourg & Beck, Vampire Weekend

Check out this bizarre new video for "Heaven Can Wait" from the upcoming Charlotte Gainsbourg/Beck project IRM, due January 26th.  That would be MRI in French, and after watching this video, I can only imagine the brain power behind this album.  Enjoy.


And then there is this little nugget from Vampire Weekend.  As if "Horchata" wasn't already stuck in our heads, the band has released a video for the second single "Cousins" from Contra, out January 12.  Enjoy the ride, literally.

Officially Excited for BLACKROC Project

BlackRoc, the Black Keys new hip-hop project, hits stores on Black Friday aka the day after Thanksgiving, and even though rushing to the record store will fall a distant fourth to leftovers and football and booze, I'm still very excited for this album's release.  Guests on the project include Raekwon, Jim Jones, Pharoahe Monch (below), RZA, Q-Tip, Curren$y, and of course, Mos Def.  There is also a continuous series of vids on YouTube documenting the recording sessions of the album.  Nice, and hilarious, to see Akron, Ohio's finest toasting Hennessy with some rap giants.  Check those out here.

Watch and hear Ain't Nothing Like You (Hoochie Coo) featuring Mos Def & Jim Jones

Hear Raekwon's collabo "Stay Off the Fuckin' Flowers"

Little Dragon: Machine Dreams

A lot of the electronic dance pop emerging today is just garbage, and its hard for me at times to understand the popularity of some of these "bands".  I understand the urge and often need to freak out and dance like a methed-out robot from time to time, but the music you do it to doesn't have to be awful, right?  There can be electro-pop and beat heavy music that still has texture and color, grace as well as thump.  

Such is the case with Gothenburg, Sweden's Little Dragon.  On there new album, Machine Dreams, the group, led by vocalists Yukimi Nagano, offer a complete landscape.  The opening "A New" sounds like pre-show music, fuzzing in and out, with just enough of Nagano's smokey coo to bait the listener.  "Looking Glass" bubbles out next, and sounds like a sexy Tom Tom Club opening up a new CBGB's on an undiscovered moon.  The keyboards are heavy throughout the album, but shine here.  "My Step" ups the pace with synth and temp changes, near somewhere near the lighter side of quality Ladytron records.  "Feather" feels like a scenic drive, or swim, through some fuzzy Dionysian future.  

Full review, tour dates, and mp3 after the jump...

The Magnetic Fields North American Tour

Boston's Magnetic Fields will embark on a 19-show tour through the States and Canada beginning on February 4th in Washington, DC.  The multi-instrumentalists will be supporting their new album Realism, released the week before the tour from Nonesuch.  As with most Magnetic Fields projects, this new album is sure to be completely different from 2008's fantastic Distortion.  No telling which direction Stephen Merritt and Co will go this time, but apparently tree leaves are listed as a percussion instrument on the albums credits.  Okay. 

If you live above I-70, then you should be very pleased with these tour dates.  No love for the South unfortunately.  Get over it Texas, you have Austin.  Full schedule after the jump...

Friday Afternoon Gingers

The one on the left kind of looks like me when I was a little ginger, before I mastered the craft of staying indoors and avoiding all soul-stealing eye contact.  I also found the most frightening ginger photo I've ever seen, but thought it would be rude to post without a warning.  I'm not trying to cause strokes around here.  See the face of the apocalypse after the jump.... 

Have a good weekend my dark skinned friends. Bet on red.

Weekend Show Picks

Northeast 
Friday

Mute Math / As Tall As Lions -  Nokia Theare @ Times Square 
Goodie Mob / Scarface - Hammerstein Ballroom, NYC 
Art Brut / Surfer Blood - Brooklyn Bowl, Brooklyn

PEACHES / Amanda Blank - Theatre of Living Arts, Philly

Saturday

Medeski, Martin, & Wood - Nokia Theatre @ Times Square
Minus the Bear / As Tall As Lions - The Note, West Chester PA

Sunday

Band of Skulls - Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros - First Unitarian Church, Philly (!!!)

Mountain
Sunday
Ozomatli - Belly Up, Aspen
Imogen Heap - Boulder Theater, Boulder

Monday
THE PIXIES - The Fillmore, Denver
Wolfmother/Heartless Bastards - The Ogden, Denver

Coolest Man on the Planet is...

Beck.  Yeah, that's the end of the sentence. There was never a voting process.  

It's hard to tell whether this project will be released or whether its just for shits and giggles, but what Mr. Beck Hansen has done the last few months is pretty uncanny.  His Record Club is surely to become the stuff of legend, with soldiers like Nigel Godrich, Devendra Banhart, Binki Shapiro (Little Joy), actor Giovanni Ribissi and others getting together to record tracks from Velvet Underground & Nico.  Members of MGMT have also been in the Club studio lately recording, which is downright frightening.  Now, Wilco, Feist, and Jamie Lidell have been recruited to record a new vision of Skip Spence's Oar. 

Hear "Little Hands" while you patiently wait for the rest.

Ocho Cinco Challenges Anderson Silva

So Ocho Cinco took a moment out of his busy jestsetter schedule to challenge UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva to an MMA fight... Really?!?  I feel for you, Mr. Cinco, if you paid someone to tell you this was a good idea.  I've personally seen Anderson win more fights in the last two years than you've won playoff games.  Nice pants by the way.


Obviously, this is just for fun.  This will never happen.  Thanks 85 for the brief laugh.... Yet, people still get paid to write this. Clown.


I would also like to take this chance to personally challenge Matisyahu to a hasidic Reggae battle.  Watch his training video, as he goes off all dub-Kosher on "One Day". 

Wolfmother Makes Breakfast

Stop playing Guitar Hero.  The newest Wolfmother disc straight up kicks down doors.  They are a band you could easily shrug your shoulders and say "It is what it is."  Fucking right, that's the beauty of it.  Sure, they sound like good Sabbath, good Zeppelin, and a Quija board dinner party mixed together and thrown onstage, but how is that not enjoyable?  And even that is selling this album short.  The band reaches peaks on all fronts: songwriting and emotion ("Caroline") are clearly evolving into something original, if not equal to its parts. Cosmic Egg is relentless, punch you in the gut rock n roll with no pretense.  The album erupts where it needs to, but its the control and commitment to their simplicity that ultimately strings the listener along.  The fun is endless. Check out "Sundial" for a cosmic bitchslap... or do yourself a favor and get the whole Egg.  The result is overwhelming.

M-E-T-H-O-D MAN

The Boombox voters have spoken, picking Method Man as the premier MC in the Wu-Tang Clan, narrowly edging Ghostface Killah.  So congratulations Johnny Blaze aka Methtical, Mr Hot Nikkels, John John Blazini, Ticallion Stallion, The Panty Raider, etc... you win!

I remember fondly the days when Method Man was strictly an MC.  Granted, he still slays it when he contributes to mixtapes, Redman collaborations, and of course Wu projects, but the man is basically an icon in the acting community now, from The Wire to Garden State.  Mef always gets the best character names too:  Cheese, Tug Daniels, Drops, and Father Sha, who delivered the most memorable line in Belly: "Knowledge Bone, what's the science, baby?"  Keep it up, Iron Lung...

Watch Method Man spit two of his best verses on GZA's "Shadowboxin" and "Da Rockwilder"

Metric: Live Fantasies

In a story completely unrelated to my crush on Emily Haines, her band Metric is touring the States right now, supporting the aptly names Fantasies, released in the Spring. The album is end-to-end quality, mixing hypno-New Wave and riff rock, all bow tied by Haines' fetishistic hum and howl. The Canadian indie-poppers will be hitting the east coast in the coming weeks, then dragging across the southern states, before ending the tour in the Pacific Northwest in mid December. Tour dates here.

Listen to "Gimme Sympathy" and "Blindness". Grab Fantasies on iTunes... or just stare at Emily with me.

Phoenix, Electric Factory, Philadelphia – 9/28

Absolutely nothing could stop the good mood at 7th and Willow with Phoenix in town. The rain that hung around all day finally gave up. The threatening reach of winter retracted, as well, leaving the night pleasantly cool and dry and ready for the Parisian invasion.

When the lights disappeared, the palpable energy in the room did an about face, just in time to see the backdrop light up, a blimp above the stage declaring Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, the title of the band’s latest release. It’s odd when something so simple has such a profound effect. In this case, the buzz in the room was doubled by three simple words. A keyboard fuzz engulfed the room, and swelled accordingly as the band members made there ways out slowly, letting the situation build. The keyboards folded into a familiar piano intro, and “Lisztomania” ensued. The anticipatory fire in the room needed no fuel, but Thomas Mars and his co-conspirators had just thrown the whole drum onto the situation. It felt both premeditated and spontaneous, the perfect way to start the show. It also served as a statement of intent to the ears in the room, most of whom were bearing witness to live Phoenix for the first time. These guys meant business.

The opener’s endless catchiness bounced off of every corner. It was as infectious as expected, but went further, shedding some of the studio’s vibrato-pop for thicker, more rock based territory.

Girls Just Wanna Get Spun

San Francisco's Girls have been in the news a lot lately. With all the charades surrounding frontman Christopher Owens' spotty past, the swinging door of band members, and the basically-gay-porn music video the group recently released, it is clear that dysfunction reigns in Girls.

For a minute, I had to stop listening to the brilliant debut album because it just made me slightly uncomfortable. Like I was being watched, or better yet, exposed. But eventually, the raw honesty and emotional spectrum of the album had me crawling back.

Through acoustic wish list rock ("Lust for Life") and surfside fuzz ("Big Bad Mean Mother Fucker"), Owens channels Elvis Costello and Brian Wilson, but with his own I-was-raised-in-a-cult twist, naturally. Content in his own homosexuality, drug abuse, and mental stability ("fucked in the head"), Owens and Co hold no punches, disarming the listener with the brazen straightforwardness of the band's lyrics, slid into sprawling tunes that can be at once simple and epic ("Summertime"). Besides having the year's best title, "Hellhole Ratrace" is a contender for one of the year's best records. It pleads, runs away, rebounds, laughs, and most of all, hopes. That sounds cheesy, sure, but the introspection involved in these 7 minutes is mesmerizing. Truly a great record on one of the year's standout debut albums.

Hear "Hellhole Ratrace" or watch the all-nighter video.

I'm kicking myself for foolishly missing the Girls show in town last week, but the band just announced a whole new set of tour dates. GO!

Gorillaz and Alan Moore?!?!?

In the Holy Shit news of the day, visionary artist Alan Moore is reportedly collaborating with Gorillaz on their next rock opera, according to an interview with Moore in Mustard magazine. Moore is the creator of the groundbreaking, graphic novels Watchmen & V for Vendetta, among others.

Gorillaz man-behind-the-curtain, Damon Albarn, has been off the radar for a while, finishing an album with De La Soul. The Blur frontman has also been tapped to direct the London Olympics 2012 opening ceremonies. These three projects couldn't be much different from one another seemingly, but with Albarn at the helm, I suspect that all three will shine.

Hear entire Them Crooked Vultures Album

With the release of their debut album only a week away, Them Crooked Vultures finally decided to break their strangely strong silence. Up until now, only vague clips of the bands music have slipped through the cracks, but starting today you can stream the whole album on the band's Youtube page.

The supergroup will play four shows in the US before jumping the pond for a tour of Europe. The night of the album's release, they will play The Wiltern in LA, followed by shows at Oakland's Fox Theater (11/19), Seattle's Paramount (11/21), and Portland's Roseland Theater (11/22/). Anyone in the area should jump all over the chance to see this great lineup. Nikki.

I'm digging "Scumbag Blues" and "No One Loves Me & Neither Do I" but "Gunman" might be the keeper of the bunch.

Glitter and Doom Live

Vagabond genius and personal hero Tom Waits will release Glitter and Doom Live on November 24th via Anti- Records. The 2 disc collection will feature 17 select tracks from Waits' world tour in the summer of 2008. The tickets were pretty impossible to get, so it will be great to finally get a glimpse into these intimate shows. The first disc will be arranged to sound like one evening's performance, but will actually be taken from 10 shows. Just as intriguing, the second disc will feature stories and anecdotes told by Waits throughout the tour. Should be a treat.

Full tracklist, description, and a free download available here.

Pete Yorn / 11-5-09 / Electric Factory "You-logy"

I went to Pete Yorn's show in Philly last night to see Alberta Cross open. I had hoped a Game 7 in the World Series would provide the perfect excuse to leave after the first band, but since Matsui went apeshit on the Phillies Wednesday night, I decided to stick around for Yorn and his band, and I'm glad I did.

There were several firsts for me last night. Not only could I breathe in the Electric Factory for once, but the venue was wall-to-wall women. I've never seen the ladies outnumber the men at any rock concert, if you can call it that. It was glorious. Also, there were tambourine solos. Multiple.

The Alberta Cross set was short, but fantastic. Yorn took a smokey stage around ten and got right to it, opening with "Can't Hear Anyone", which I thought was ironic, because the audience had finally shut up for the first time all evening. He said hello then ran through "Shotgun" and a "Life on a Chain" that really got the crowd going. A cover of New Order's "Bizarre Love Triangle" brought a smirk to my face. But then a strange thing happened, I found myself enjoying it. From the back of the stage emerged a sweaty guy wielding a tambourine, gyrating and performing a solo/general freakout worthy of the drunkest uncle. Covering 80's new wave with acoustic guitars and a heartbroken voice tilt is almost as cool as wolf shirts and jorts. I congratulate Yorn on pulling it off.

"Blackie's Dead", from Yorn's collaboration album The Break Up with Scarlett Johansson, came next, before acoustic versions of "June" and "The Man", the latter being one of the night's true highlights. Yorn then handed over some of the vocal duties to the crowd for a genuinely great "Murray" that left me pleased with my decision to stay. After "Closet", which could easily be about a serial killer if sung by someone more threatening, the band dipped back into the Break Up catalog with "Search Your Heart", one of the album's best, and the haunting "Someday". He ended with "Strange Condition", which has definitely stood out as one of his better tunes over the years, and served as a fitting wrap on the solid 16-song set. Everything is better with harmonica.

Amidst howls of worship and drunken stupidity, the band returned with "Social Development Dance", whose lyric "When you boyfriend called, you were pressed against the wall" brings me deep, evil joy. Oh yes. Then came "Crystal Village", the real reason I was waiting around. Such a great tune, and it was executed flawlessly from the stage. The band actually let go and pushed this one a bit further than the record. Sweaty tambourine guy was all over this one, too. After the dust settled, Yorn offered the first verse of Springsteen's "Hungry Heart" as an intro to his own "Don't Wanna Cry", before closing the festivities with "For Nancy (Cos It Already Is)".

Yes, every song was about you and mine and my only friend and sweetest love. Mostly you, possibly every song. In some ways, it was a rhythmic nightmare. The poet in me found myself completing lyrics to songs I'd never heard before. BUT, its easy to see why Pete Yorn has such a vast an adoring fanbase. His songwriting is simple, but fantastically listenable. I'd certainly see him again, for the women.

Box of the Week

Breaking Time with ALBERTA CROSS

There are few bands still breathing that would make me park my car where I did tonight (Laugh amongst yourselves.). I landed in Center City with five minutes to spare before Alberta Cross played their last show in the US for who-knows-how-long. I ran.... ...into a half-full Electric Factory? Baffling. The upstairs was completely closed. No champagne bar? No Emily from the Phoenix show?

The howl was quite healing, as Alberta Cross sucker-punched my confusion back into reverie with "Leave Us or Forgive Us". I wish I could be nonchalant about it, I wish I could be objective, but no. I love this band, and to see them was a treat. "Taking Control" spat out next, while unknowing indie drones filtered in wearing shoes I'm sure would have retrieved a laugh from me had "Ramblin Home" not been so good on stage. The tightest jeans I owned looked like collegiate sweats in this crowd. I could smile to myself. "Is that a woman singing?" a misdirected cougar asked behind me. After a genuine double take, I said 'Yes' and pointed towards the door.

Rarely in the set did any member of the band make eye contact. Instead it was Petter Ericson Stakee who led a mostly silent symphony from the front. No orders were barked out, no fingers pointed. Stakee spun with a skinny balance that would make Chris Robinson hungry, waving his tambourine and with the slightest blink bringing the band full circle.

Dedicating to Pete Yorn, the band leaped face first into "Broken Side of Time", the title track from their new album, stunning a few Yorn-know-nothings into attention with it's thick English beat-down balladry. This song, if any, announces the intention of this band. It's as revealing as it is raw, as powerful as anything that was to come of the stage all night. "We're gonna try a gospel song now" offered Ericson, before the band switched positions, entering Moog and mixer, but leaving the a capella lead-off to Ericson himself, introducing a fantastic "Rise From The Shadows" . The biblical spook hung perfectly in the room as the haunting coos from the mic mixed sublimely with Terry Wolfer's fuzzy progressive bass lines and finite piano drops, leading to temptation? No, back to claps and serenade, letting his bandmates take that all important breath, exhaling, when you know that you've won.

The London-transplants finished with "APX", the new single, and shockingly, it was the best song of the night. There was a fresh urgency and pain to the performance, a band on the verge ready to lie in the bed they've made.

Alberta Cross heads back to the UK on Saturday, and I doubt they will open for anyone the next time they jump the pond. Safe Travels, thieves.

Monsters on Fallon

Monsters of Folk are on the road supporting their debut album, and they stopped by Late Night with Jimmy Fallon last night to perform their eerie new tune "Dear God (Sincerely M.O.F)" The songwriting genius club, consisting of Jim James, Conor Oberst, Mike Mogis, and M. Ward were backed by the Roots, who are easily the best house band in the history of television. For someone who could never keep a straight face on SNL, Fallon has done well, I'd say. Even though the song is a slow, winding ballad with little space for a Roots influence, Tuba Gooding Jr. sure seemed to be enjoying himself.

Watch the video here.

Whale Watching

Last week I heard a DJ say that being a band from Brooklyn was now a cliche. I wanted to reach through the airwaves and strangle him with his headphone cord. That may have been the dumbest thing I've heard spoken all year.... and it's been a long year. However, redemption would ultimately be his. The next next band he played has become my most recent obsession.

The music of Queens-based quintet Freelance Whales hasn't stopped infecting me since. To me, the group's dream pop, at once atmospheric and intelligent,is like a soundtrack to a smile growing on someone's face. Lead vocalist Doris Cellar not only has a fantastic moniker, but a charmer of a voice to back up the name tag. The vocals are even, rhythmic, and often hypnotically harmonized, but the instrumentation is where the real hook is. Wave after wave of unfamiliar tones pour out of each track. Is that a freaking glockenspiel?? Yes, and banjo, cello, harmonium, and possibly tin cans mixed into the guitar, drum, and bass trinity. The smartly balanced arrangements and left field tempo changes combine to deliver pop peace of mind.
The band released their debut album Weathervanes in September, and will begin a coast-to-coast tour in New York on Friday. Tour dates and streaming audio available here.

Hear "Hannah" and "Generator ^First Floor" now.

One Last Halloween Treat...

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!