Hot Chip annonce le tracklisting du successeur de Made In The Dark .One Life Stand sort sur Astralwerks le 8 février 2010. Vous pouvez dès maintenant écouter One Life Stand via leur myspace.
Tracklisting:
01 Thieves in the Night
02 Hand Me Down Your Love
03 I Feel Better
04 One Life Stand
05 Brothers
06 Slush
07 Alley Cats
08 We Have Love
09 Keep Quiet
10 Take It In
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Baby Dee ♥ Cedar Cultural Center, Minneapolis (12/01/09) |
Before her last song, she introduced The Books by telling this joke about next to the dog, a man's best friend is a book. Next because inside a dog, it's too hard to read.
The Books set up two chairs and their movie projector at 9 o'clock. Remember, this is the Cedar, their shows starts early and ends early (no later than 10:30pm). Which its audience is an older (and probably gainfully employed crowd), so they like early shows.
So, back to the Books, they provided the live soundtrack to their movies. Everything is in sync, no technical problems at all. They even went so far as having a one-minute intermission song as they tune up their instruments. The intermission song features anagrams of the word "Immediate". Everything is calculated.
I find that trying to watch the movie and watching Nick Zammuto and Paul de Jong was somewhat distracting. I think they prefer you watch the screen, because watching the duo play isn't exactly that exciting.
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The Books ♥ Cedar Cultural Center, Minneapolis (12/01/09) |
As for the encores, which incidentally is predetermined because of the movies that is associated with the songs, they did two songs. The first is a Nick Drake cover "Cello Song", which Paul explained is their only cover they do. It was for the benefit of the Red Hot organization for Aids awareness. If you recall, I've previously endorsed the organization by buying many of their music releases. Their final song is "An Owl With Knees" from their 2005 album, Lost and Safe.
PS, This is my final concert for 2009 (I hibernate during the winter), I would like to thank everybody for offering shows for me to review. I will be able to accept assignments in March-ish 2010, and/or whenever it stops snowing.
12/02/2009 11:29:30 ♥ vu (
) ♥ thebooksmusic.com ♥ myspace.com ♥ twitter.com
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12/13/09 Loring Kitchen & Bar Minneapolis
Discography
12/20/09 Loring Kitchen & Bar Minneapolis 12/31/09 Loring Kitchen & Bar Minneapolis
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Minneapolis duo Bella Ruse self-classify their sound as “indie folk jazz,” but when Joseph Barker plugs in his electric, as on opener “Push On,” the result doesn’t quite fit the categorization. The sparse, moody guitar and Kay Gillette’s intimate vocals would be as appropriate for a sparse, moody Jim Jarmusch film as for a smoke-filled jazz club. While “Push On” is Bella Ruse’s standout track, the rest of the EP is quietly pleasing. “J’ai Presque Peur” is a smooth Pinot Noir toast to Edith Piaf and “Heart of Everyone” jangles along nicely. When Norah Jones released her debut, I remember being underwhelmed at first, certain that her foray into “jazz” was one clarinet short of Lite FM. However, after a few listens, I warmed up a bit, mostly because beneath the soccer mom ear-bait, I could detect the slightest shade of melancholy, and this interested me. Bella Ruse is interesting in a comparable way (they had me at “kind of sad”). Gillette’s voice calms rather than excites and sure, “Hold Me Close” would probably excite a Meg Ryan character (when she realizes that the Tom Hanks character is The One*); still, revisit “Push On” and convince me there isn’t a little Scout Niblett/Chan Marshall angst beneath the romantic sentiments.
In his track notes, Barker admits that “Push On” was not an immediate favorite. In fact, it took Gillette’s persistence and encouragement from fans to convince him that the song had a place on the EP. Although this baffles me, I also kind of get it. “Push On” is Bella Ruse’s “Hide and Seek”: a stand alone track that deviates from an otherwise comfortable style. There’s a reason why I’ve listened to the song a total of 27 times since I received the EP, except the ‘reason’ is actually a sensation—a slight tingling, milder than goosebumps but equally elusive. My request for the band is simple: more, please. More blood, sweat, tears, booze, ultra-lights, magic fairy dust or WHATEVER combination birthed this beauty. More Pinot Noir, too.
Besides their debut EP, Bella Ruse has also released ‘Twas a Bella Ruse Christmas, a 4-song compilation of Christmas favorites. Both albums can be purchased digitally at http://bellaruse.bandcamp.com. For more information visit the band’s official website or e-stalk the pair on Facebook and Myspace.
*Sadly, my Nora Ephron references are dated. Help.
12/01/2009 23:35:26 ♥ lara (
/lara206.vox.com)
♥ bellaruse.com ♥ myspace.com/bellaruse ♥ twitter.com
Phosphorescent To Willie (Dead Oceans / Differ-Ant) Sortie 2009
Tout est dans le titre de l’album. To Willie From Phossy est un vibrant hommage rendu à l’un des plus grands chanteurs de country Willy Nelson. Un exercice dans lequel on aurait plus facilement vu une personne comme Bonnie Prince Billy. Mais voilà, c’est Matthew Houck alias Phosphorescent qui s'y colle et, même si on n’est pas foncièrement fan de la country musique, il faut dire que le résultat n’est pas si mauvais. Ici on est loin du cliché santiags et chapeau de cowboy; mais on est plus près des converses trouées et de la chemise carreaux surmontée d’une barbe florissante. Les morceaux choisis par Matthew Houck ne sont pas les plus connus de Willie Nelson mais ils renvoient toujours à l’imaginaire des grands espaces. Comme un copié collé, Phosphorescent s’amuse avec les chansons du country man et la similitude des morceaux va jusqu’à la pochette qui ressemble à celle de To Lefty from Willy, album que Willie Nelson enregistre en 1977 en hommage à Lefty Frizzell. Cet album est à mettre dans votre discothèque entre Bonnie Prince Billy et Alena Diane mais pas à coté des deux premiers albums de Phosphorescent (A Hundred Times Or More et Pride) que l’on préférera à celui-ci.
Après avoir expérimenter, sur leur premier disque
(2009, remarqué par les boutiques sonores) une formation réduite aux allures
folk, Every Man a invité une dizaine d'amis musiciens pour explorer bien
d'autres horizons. Produit par Black Shoes Records, qui leur a permis de
travailler dans un studio brestois, le disque prend des virages tantôt folk,
pop et post rock. Les vents, guitares électriques, claviers rhodes qui
n'étaient pour l'instant pas présents se trouvent mis en valeur à travers les
six morceaux de ce dernier disque.
"Scissors of your memories" est le deuxième EP de ce duo breton
parisien. La sortie est prévue pour début 2010 mais il vous est possible de le
commander dès à présent. (8euros = disque + affiche + MP3's frais de port inclus).
Every Man Has Your Voice / Black Shoes rcds / Dead Caballero rcds / BS party
Après Starshaped, voici que Blur sort un autre documentaire sur leur carrière intitulé No Distance Left To Run. Attention il ne faut pas confondre avec le dvd du même nom sorti en 1999 qui n'était qu'un making of de la chanson sortie sur l'album 13.
One of Kateg's favorite label, Polyvinyl, is offering a free 16-track album at polyvinylrecords.com/mentalmath. The sampler includes a ton of bands we've previously covered: Architecture In Helsinki, Mates of State, Asobi Seksu, Headlights - just to name a few.
Incidentally, one of those band, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin are on tour:
- 12/02/09 Outland* Springfield, MO
12/06/09 Binghamton University Vestal, NY
12/07/09 Bell House Brooklyn, NY
12/08/09 Summit Columbus, OH
12/09/09 Bishop Bloomington, IN
12/12/09 Outland Ballroom Springfield, MO
01/13/10 Maxine’s Pub Hot Springs, AK
01/23/10 Gallery Sounds Collective Springfield, MO
01/28/10 Schubas EARLY ALL AGES SHOW Chicago, IL
01/29/10 Courtyard Cafe Champaign, IL
01/30/10 Mojo’s Columbia, MO
01/31/10 Jackpot Lawrence, KS
* SSLYBY 10th Anniversary show with Brian Azevedo and Lamentia
I got a download sample and press release for this band's latest "double a-side single" for Simple Pleasures/Like Dat. Generally, I am not accepting singles, remixes, or demos, but since I did enjoy their previous single for "Your Music is Killing Me" and "You've Got To" (especially the Norman Cook aka Fatboy Slim remix), I did give these two new songs a listen.
What can I say ? I really dig the old-school punk intro, followed by this weird 80s pop singing, then some rasta-thing. Not really sure what to classify the whole thing, except that it's quite dancey. As for "Like Dat", I wasn't keen on this as much. Perhaps it's the rap song is such a stark contrast to the other song... but that's probably why people like Young Punx.
Currently, I think you can only get Simple Pleasures/Like Dat on iTunes. If you want to wait, I think these two songs are going to be available on their upcoming album, Mashpop & Punkstep, due out in 2010.
Anyway, since this is the "free" post, you can head over to their official website under theyoungpunx.com/../mp3, you'll find a ton of free mixes and oddities. My favorite are any remix of "Juice and Gin".
Also, some random thoughts: I survived Black Friday. I have never seen so many people out in force at 5am. The parking lot at Wal-Mart was completely full, thankfully we got news alert from other shoppers that we went to Wal-Mart at the last stop. Deals were everywhere, it was the worst at Target (which also reflected people flocking to there). One of the item I bought was the Matrix 10th Anniversary Bluray, which comes in a nice book-format, for $12.99. It's normally $29.99 suggested retail price. My impulse buy was S.T.A.L.K.E.R. PC game for $5.... it couldn't be helped.
I spent most of my vacation catching up on reading and TV shows. TV shows comes in the form of Hulu and Netflix - via the Netflix Instant Streaming disc for PS3. Compared to Xbox's "Gold Membership" which costs $50 a year, PS3's free streaming is a much better deal.
The Netflix streaming is dependent on your internet connection, I have a semi-decent connection at 5 megabit, so the video starts instantly (less than 30 seconds). Compare this to Playstation's own HD digital rental services, you have to wait at least 30 minutes to start the video, while it download the rest of the file. It's probably fast if you just drove to the video store and rent your movie.
Quality-wise, again depending on the connection, was pretty amazing for me. According to 1up.com, the streaming is in HD (however, I think some titles are only available in standard definition).
My gripe is that most of Netflix's titles are only available on DVD, the digital portion is probably less than 1% of their titles (it is only a guess since their selection is so poor). Also, there's no searching via the streaming disc. You can browse the recently added in various genres, but older titles, you will have to search and add to your "instant queue". Kind of lame, I hope they fix this problem in future updates.
If you don't have a PS3, most newer television and bluray player will come with instant Netflix, so this company is quite smart in getting their hands on all devices. Think about it, if you bought a Bluray player with Netflix, you will probably sign up for an account. Anyway, if you have a PS3 and a Netflix account already, you can request the free Bluray disc for yourself at netflix.com/ps3.
12/01/2009 00:16:50 ♥ vu () ♥weheartmusic.com♥twitter.com/weheartmusic♥news.weheartmusic.com
Atlas Sound Logos (4AD / Beggars Banquet) Sortie Octobre 2009
Pourquoi faire une énième chronique sur un album qui a déjà eu les faveurs de toute la blogosphère et des magazines spécialisés ? Tout a été dit sur cet album qui va probablement être dans les cinq meilleurs albums de l’année. Mais voilà, quand un artiste accouche d’un album qui sera sans nul doute le mètre étalon de la musique indé actuelle pour les années à venir, on ne peut que lui rendre un hommage. Disque solaire à la maturité parfaite, Logos deviendra un classique. Bradford Cox est un artiste prolifique qui écrit des mini symphonies au prisme sonore luxuriant. On ressent la mélancolie et les cassures de la vie du leader de Deerhunter. On ressort enivré de mélodies subtiles et des boucles d’effets mystérieuses. Il ne nous reste plus qu’a nous laisser aller à un abandon léthargique. Logos est une œuvre exigeante et sans faille située quelque part entre un néo folk fantasmagorique et un psychédélisme lunaire. Comme Animal Collective ou Grizzly Bear, Bradford Cox marque son temps avec l’empreinte de son génie.
