Bodies of Water
A Certain Feeling (Secretly Canadian)
hear: Gold, Tan, Peach, and Grey, Under the Pines, Water Here, Darling Be Here, If I Were a Bell
M83's new single, "Kim and Jesse" is my favorite track from their stellar 2008 album. This is their 2nd single/video for Saturdays=Youth. Though not quite as immediate and intriguing as the "Graveyard Girl" video, it's still interesting and more on the lighter side. If you love to roller skate then you'll feel right at home.
Mew is set to release a new album, probably sometime this Fall. They've been making video diaries of the recording of the new album, which takes place mostly -as it does here- in Brooklyn. Video #7 was given exclusively to my boys at Prefix who are nice enough to share. Rich Costey, the producer of Mew's upcoming album gives the narration of a would-be CERN report that is constructed mostly of the dual reality of Mew. Homeboy gets a little frightening toward the end though. But this looks sweet. I can't wait to hear what the new stuff sounds like.
Akin to Take-Away shows, the difference is pretty obvious. Sail-Away shows will be recorded on docks, boats, basically areas near or on the water. La Blogotheque has already recruited The Wombats and The Blakes for aquatic sessions. As opposed to the 3-4 song sessions that the Take-Away shows feature, the Sail-Away sessions include just a single song...so far. Blogotheque hopes the tranquil settings may inspire the visiting bands in ways otherwise not possible.
Titus Andronicus
The Airing of Grievances (Troubleman Unlimited)
*originally written for kevchino*
Six boys in New Jersey form a band and then wish to name their band after one of The Bard's works. Macbeth maybe? Much Ado About Nothing? The Merry Wives of Windsor? No, not even The Tempest is a suitable moniker for the utter despair and existential nihilism that Titus Andronicus seem to encapsulate. No, Titus Andronicus it is and Titus Andronicus it must be. The darkest and bloodiest of Shakespeare's works, the name of the game is revenge, even if that means killing a couple of your kids. Titus Andronicus come across as a band so bitter at the world that if they cared enough to leave the bar where their music certainly belongs, revenge would be the first thing on their mind. Of course, this isn't new territory in music. Emo angst has been morphed into a competition of who can be the most miserable. But this is not where The Airing of Grievances belongs. It's the rock arrangements that take the central focus before the heart scribblings on the sleeve. The Oberst-like yelp, the painstaking attention to lyrics, and elements of the Walkmen-esque raw sound invite more of a comparison to the heavy indie rock of The Appleseed Cast than any self-pitying emo outfit.
The Airing of Grievances is one of the better hard rock albums of the year but doesn't quite achieve greatness. The name of the album is taken from a Seinfeld episode, recognizable most by Festivus(for the rest of us!) where Frank Castanza declares that they will start with "the airing of grievances." Comical it may be, but it pretty much encompasses Titus' agenda with the feeling of a megaphone. In the opener, "Fear and Loathing in Mahwah in NJ," front man Patrick Stickles screams "Fuck You. You took a heart with so much room for love and filled it with hatred and rage until there was nothing left." Stickles isn't happy. And this continues till "No Future Part Two," the last song before the "Albert Camus" epilogue when Stickles laments "Now the sun in the sky has turned to rust, the rivers are running red with blood, and the cries of the helpless are never, never enough." If it weren't for the clever lyrics along with successful meshing of indie and traditional rock arrangements, The Airing of Grievances may be a hard pill to swallow. The first half of the album is the stronger of the two. "Fear and Loathing" starts things off with a knock across the head and things only get better from there. "Joset of Nazareth's Blues" is another worthy, fearsome tune that is unique in its suggestion that Titus may actually care. "Arms Against Atrophy" is the strongest track, starting with it's blistering guitar-drum boxing match that continues throughout the song until it ends with a memorable, aptly-placed riff, accompanied by what seems to be haunting autobiographical lyrical content. One of the flaws of Grievances then becomes to be exposed because for all their clever word-play and accessible arrangements, the album begins to sound a little monotonous, with the constant complaining getting old. The album is rescued by "No Future Part One," a heavy laden ballad of sorts that weaves in and out of the darkness, all the time leaving you guessing. Titus close out the album fittingly with a tribute to another great literary figure and one of the most well-known, perceived existentialists, Albert Camus.
One significant problem with
Grievances is the garage-style, inconsistent sound production,
which may have been deliberate, but none-the-less could have been
improved to their advantage without pretentious gloss. Despite this,
The Airing of Grievances is a fresh new turn in indie rock.
But Titus Andronicus don't
care. As Stickles bellows
halfway through the album, "I'll Write my masterpiece some other
day."
hear: Fear and Loathing in Mahwah NJ, My Time Outside the Womb, Joset of Nazareth's Blues, Arms Against Atrophy, No Future Part One
One of the top 5 releases this year -at least official ones- came courtesy of Justin Vernon who goes by the Bon
Iver(pronounced E-veir) alias when he's not punching out decompressing tunes for his other projects. All four songs he shared with the hoosiers are from the only release under the Bon Iver moniker: "Flume," "Lump Sum," "Re Stacks" and "Creature Fear." This is one Daytrotter session not to miss.
Go here if you don't want to miss it
Devendra Banhart took his sweet time to put together his first video for last year's Smokey Rolls Down. Maybe he was waiting till he had a beautiful woman by his side as Natalie Portman also stars in the video. In any case, here's the video for "Carmensita." Enjoy.
