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Hey!
We're taking the weekend off to kick back and celebrate the
4th Of July. Need something to do? Check out
Noah's movie column for what's hitting theaters and/or
figure out a way to get a ticket and join me at the
Explosions In The Sky show tomorrow night. Enjoy.
:Lightning Dust - Never Seen: Hearing Amber's voice quiver and slide effortlessly between beautiful and haunting isn't exactly a new experience, but I'm used to her having the mighty psych-rock ways of Black Mountain lingering in the background and not a somewhat strange and very 80s mix of synths and piano. It still works just as well and I think the song is fantastic, but I wouldn't say that it has the same sort of "fresh" feeling that the last single, I Knew had. By the way, you'll want headphones for this.
Austin had a few precious hours of rain yesterday morning that was brief relief from a killer 100+ heatwave. In honor of that sweet morning shower, I bring you my favorite rain songs:
:The Grim Trinity And DJ Afficks - Through The Rain: The lo-fi aesthetics and smooth beat of this track make it a perfect one to put on as soon as you hear the thunder in the distance. The track, like many hip hop instrumentals, is repetitive, but the sequence of layered voices, drum track and scratches are reminiscent of the repetition of rain on the roof with the occasional branch bumping against the window. :Declaime - Rain: From 2008’s Astormsacomin, this tracks takes a very traditional bad weather/relationship juxtaposition but improves it with some clever static layering and synth build up. If you slimmed it down to the high hat and kick drum, you’d have a classic old school jam, but Declaime has updated it brilliantly by using the soundscape of falling rain. :Warpath - Seattle Rain: This 90’s Seattle group brings an abstract sound and one sweet sample of a lady’s voice to their interpretation of rain in music. On this track, the group makes a larger-than-life claim: that they are in fact more ubiquitous than Seattle rain. Unfortunately, I’ve never heard of them besides this one track on a random underground compilation, but a lot of hip hop is about boasting, and they do it well. :Aesop Rock - Alchemy (Featuring Blueprint): This pretty well known track from Aesop Rock’s Daylight EP always come to mind when it’s raining. Rain is referenced in Blueprints bombastic flow, but the crashing cymbals and skipping keyboard are a near-perfect musical interpretation of a good thunderstorm.
:Spoon - Got Nuffin: When Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga was soon-to-be released and the only song floating around was the static-enhanced, piano-heavy The Ghost Of You Lingers, I was thinking that the band was surely going to deliver one hell of strange effort. That didn't happen. So, I won't be making any guesses this time around. Although, if they decide to deliver a bunch of tunes like this 80s-esque gem, which is filled with hooky guitar riffs and driving basslines, then I won't complain. At all.
:Wildlife - Sea Dreamer: "We're making our friends/We're making our enemies" I love this song. It's infectious, but not just to the point where you're constantly hitting repeat for an extra listen. No, this is more than that - it embeds itself in your head, makes you sing-a-long loudly, do a variety of air instruments and forces you to want to experience it live (even it means flying to Canada). That's good stuff. Now get to obsessing.
It's been a rough morning/evening/week for music fans as
Michael Jackson passed away yesterday afternoon. It's been
amazing, that even under the auspices of his severely
scandalized life, the man is still revered by so many
people.
Who/What:
Bobby Ubangi - Where The Old Folks Go (To Get Down)
Who/What:
Michael Jackson - Pretty Young Thing
Who/What:
That Ghost - Friends In Quotations
:SOTO
- Episode 96:
This week has my latest favorite album and music from Mew,
Spiral Stairs, Memory Tapes, the Avett Brothers, Modest
Mouse, Apteka and Sinkane. Enjoy.
Like most
people today, I'm left sitting around and thinking about the
life of Michael Jackson. I very fondly remember all of
the big cable concert specials he would do, that bizarre
Oprah interview, the way everyone universally referred to
him as the King Of Pop, the Sega Genesis game and, of
course, the exact moment when the bottom fell out and he
went from being a larger than life superstar to just a
weirdo.
Before I even hit up Youtube to find the video I was already picturing it in my head. After all, not only was it a big Super Bowl for me as a young Dallas Cowboys fan, but the whole "teleporting" all over the place and then jumping out of the stage pretty much eviscerated my 10-year old brain. To this day it remains the best halftime show I've ever seen.
It's just not possible to
mention Michael Jackson without automatically conjuring up
at least one image from this incredible video or wanting to
do part of the dance, so I really had no choice but to list
it. In any case, aside from its everlasting
appeal, I think it also shows that the guy didn't
just make music, he made full blown experiences.
By the time
this film rolled into theaters in the summer of 1993 I
was already convinced that Michael could teleport, glide
backwards at will and do...well...whatever the hell he
wanted. So, it didn't matter what piece of music
he released next - I was already hooked.
Although, I'm mostly sure the sheer joy of seeing Willy
The Whale do
a slow motion jump over a child my age certainly had
something to do with it as well.
Seeing this as a kid made for a rather
intense experience. After all, I lived in a small town
and this made the city look like a big dangerous place where
people had knife fights. Sure, they may resolved all
their problems with dancing, but what if MJ hadn't been
there? Death. Definitely. Or something.
I was a kid! Don't judge me.
When this came out it was beyond uncool
to like anything from Michael Jackson, but I always found
myself excited whenever it would pop up on MTV. Only,
I just don't know if I actually liked it or if its weird
level of aggression, Janet Jackson's breasts and the super
futuristic setting (even though for some reason the only
game available is Pong) were all I needed in my
pre-teen years.
That's all. Thanks for taking the
time to reminisce about the King Of Pop through my eyes.
Feel free to share some of your favorite videos in the
comments section!
Today's Quick Mention: Yuck. The triple digit
temperatures we've had lately have really been trying to discourage me from
attending shows. Honestly, I'll probably still go anyways, but it does
make me wonder whether or not some just don't even bother during the summer.
Discuss!
:Cymbals
Eat Guitars - Tungunska:
I tend to be all about putting a song on an album if it's
good, but this carries a different tone than a lot of what's
on Why There Are Mountains, so I can see why it
didn't make the cut. Although, it should be said that
the band's wide range of influences (my favorite quality)
still shine brightly, so it's not all that different
than what you've heard from them so far. It's just a
bit more swanky, which is pretty neat.
Today's
Quick Mention: My brand new Panasonic DMP-BD60 Blu-Ray
player arrived in the mail yesterday, and I absolutely love
it. That is all.
:The
New Time - Neutral Milk Hotel:
It doesn't happen often, but on occasion I do get an email
with just facts. For example, the one from this band,
which simply indicated that they'll soon be moving to Austin
(from Philadelphia) and a copy of their upcoming EP An
Incomplete History is heading my way. No fancy
press quotes, comparisons to other acts or anything else -
just information and a song. Of course, it certainly
didn't hurt that said song turned out to be an infectious
pop rock gem. Good work, "local" people.
:Noah
And The Whale - First Days Of Spring:
My interest in Noah And The Whale has only ever been mild,
so when I received word of a new full length I semi-shrugged
my shoulders, downloaded the first single and went about my
business with the idea of revisiting it "later". Now,
I'm seeing the error (however slight) of my ways, as it is
one beautiful, sweeping effort that blows me away every time
I listen to it. Grab some headphones, and then make a
note to look for First Days Of Spring at the end of
August.
Today's Quick Mention: Well, it would appear that Sunny Day
Real Estate are set to reunite for a few shows. There's one
scheduled for San Francisco, another for Seattle and there's a
rumor floating around that says they'll also be playing Bumbershoot.
Could be cool, yeah?
:Faunts
- Explain (Cassettes Won't Listen Remix):
As you may already know, Faunts put out a record earlier
this year, and this is the song that closes it out.
Well, not exactly the song. The original is
over six minutes, super lush and pretty demanding of your
attention. This, on the other hand, carries half the
runtime, a quick pace and a wealth of detail-oriented sounds
that somehow avoid being tedious and/or cluttered. I
love it. You should too.
Today's Quick Mention: Tonight at Stubb's it's the Heartless
Bastards and Jenny Lewis. Admittedly, I'm only really excited about
seeing Erika Wennerstrom and Co. play (The Mountain is such a great
record), but the whole thing should be a good time. Anyone else going?
:Souvenir
- Drums, Sex And Dance:
I don't know what's actually being said in this song (French
was not a good experience for me in college), but it doesn't
really matter since I get the feeling that it's just about
having fun. And stuff. Or whatever. In any
case, the point is that with its fantastic driving beat and
oddly catchy ways you can just concentrate on your sweet
dance moves. Lyrics can be made up later.
I can’t get over how
St. Vincent
makes it cool to be smart again. Seeing her play this
past Friday invited pre-show conversations about Arrested
Development (namely Bob Loblaw’s Law Blog) and Dylan
Thomas (namely that sweet villanelle, "Do not go gentle into
that good night" and Wales). She’s smart that Annie
Clark, and I like it.
Sunset -
Loveshines II
You can also grab a copy of the song from Weathervane if you
give them your email (I’m sure you’ll only get notifications
about cool new videos).
John Michael Cassetta keeps his own blog, Big
Diction, and writes for the local website Austin
Sound. Comments, complaints, and solicitations
may be directed
here.
:SOTO
- Episode 95:
This week has my latest favorite album and music from
Dappled Cities, Janelle Monae, Mew, Bowerbirds, Woods, Sean
Bones and AA Bondy. Enjoy.
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