Okay…. So as near as I can tell, Die Antwoord (‘The Answer’) found fame in one of two ways: 1)Through a die hard belief that they were actually put on this earth with the unique and specified task of spreading ZEF kulture to all of us puritanical americans who quake in light of their oh-so-very-far-from-politically correct lyrics or 2) They watched 8-mile with AQUA’s ‘barbie girl’ playing on repeat for the entire film, until….LIGHTBULB!
Though I’ll admit I’m becoming more and more convinced that these three are just far smarter than the bloggers that have been spreading their $3 beatz around the internet like ringworm at a tickling convention (myself included), I guess one has to come to their own conclusions about Die Antwoord, but here’s a little food for thought…
Welp… their album $0$ is out… well, sometime in february (I think this week has been so good to these three, they havent even set a release date beyond ASAP!)
Folksier strains of music escape me in the same way that hip hop often does. Raised as I was in an upper middle class (and mostly white) suburb of a major city, my only contact with wild mountainsides, untamed stretches of country road, and big sky occurred through car windows as my family drove from a to b. Essentially, I am Donny. I am out of my element and I have no frame of reference. In spite of this, George Stathakes debut Drawings In Dust has managed to grab my somewhat philistine attention and retain it throughout multiple listens.
Another Monday, another selection of gigs to serenade you into February. Monday is a snooze, so have a cup of cocoa, or maybe a blue blazer - a real cockle-warmer - and read a trashy novel in front of the fire as you wait for the week to kick off on Tuesday.
Just a friendly reminder of the best band out of Saratoga Springs, NY: Phantogram are about to release their first full-length, Eyelid Movies, on Barsuk Records on February 9th (and on Ghostly International, exclusively vinyl and download). They will be in DC on February 15th at DC 9. For now, here’s a live in-studio rendition of their older but eminently worthy single, “Mouthful of Diamonds”.
As any listener of Some American Radio will know, there are those of us here who enjoy music of a more electronic variety, and then there is me… who doesn’t. But it is a criminal fallacy to believe that I thus hate all electronic music, as every so often a song or an artist will capture my attention and cause me to reconsider trusted formula of music listening: keyboard/machines = bad. Mux Mool is one such artist.
Mr. Mool, neé Brian Lindgren of Minnesota, brings a nerdish disposition toward collecting, working feverishly and continuously collecting bits and pieces to weave seamlessly into his creations. “Lady Linda”, the first single from his upcoming full-length debut, Skulltaste (March 23 on Ghostly International), is measured and unhurried, full of soft, vintage tones, and injected with eerie, even alien sounds and “melodies”, and rounded off by a wave of lush strings that pulls it all in from the outer reaches. A crisp break-beat, a subdued air, some odd touches, and a varied trajectory: it’s not that hard to make me like an electronic track, friends.
The Devil Makes Three delivery a punk-tinged take on classic American folk music, one that wears its hooks as openly as it displays its somewhat kitschy qualities. The California based trio has been around since 2002, releasing three full length albums including their latest, Do Wrong Right. To my ears, fans of the New Orleans Bingo Show or those looking for an upbeat take on the stylings of William Elliott Whitmore should take note.
DMT are currently on a tour of the West Coast, Canada, and the Midwest. If you live in one of the cities below, head on out and give them a look in. Maybe your contributions will mean that they will be able to make out to the East coast on the next go around.
The Devil Makes Three Tour
Marc 19 - Brick by Brick - San Diego, CA Mar 20 - The Troubadour - LA, CA Mar 21 - Soho - Santa Barbara, CA Mar 23 - The Phoenix Theatre - Petaluma, CA Mar 24 - The Historic Ashland Armory - Ashland, CA Mar 25 - WOW Hall - Eugene, Or Mar 27 - Wonder Ballroom - Portland, OR Mar 28 - El Corazon - Seattle, WA Mar 30 - The Railway Club - Vancouver, BC Apr 1 - The Marquee Room - Calgary, AB Apr 2 - The Pawn Shop - Edmonton, AB Apr 3 - Lydia’s Pub - Saskatoon, SK Apr 5 - The Park Theatre - Winnipeg, MB Apr 8 - The Double Door - Chicago, IL Apr 9 - First Ave - Minneapolis, MN Apr 11 - High Noon - Madison, WI Apr 25 - Pozo Saloon - Pozo, CA - supporting Merle Haggard
For those who don’t know (and you should), Caddywhompus are one of those bands that I will one day be able to tell people I liked before everyone else - a mix of Animal Collective-style audacity and stoner-jam sensibilities that revels in the galvanizing effects a wall of noise can have on listeners. Their self-titled debut EP sits permanently on my iPod, a place where transience is the norm, and has left me needing more.
Which brings me to the title line of this message, as the band’s lead singer and principal voxist Chris Rehm has just released a pay-what-you-want-for-it digital version of his solo project Salivary Stones. We have a review forthcoming, but an initial listen through the album’s six tracks of decadent instrumental dream pop has me thinking I will be yammering on like a fool about this one for a good long while (I mean, I used the word decadent just now for fuck’s sake).
You can stream Salivary Stones in it’s entirety below and head HERE to purchase the album when you’re done.
On their first full length release, Great Vengeance And Furious Fire, The Heavy proved to me that Prince-inspired neo-soul could be listened to without a sense of irony and without worrying about any undue effect on my testosterone levels. Tracks like “Coleen”, “That Kind of Man”, and “In The Morning” were capable of getting even this most jaded of listeners to jump to his feet and find his inner groove thing. It wasn’t pretty, but it was pretty righteous.
We’re two talking heads short of a full cast this week, but Brett, Sean and Éamonn make do nonetheless as they discuss the relevance of mashups, the confoundingly awful title of the new Black Rebel Motorcycle Club album title, and Sean’s dark past as a former employee of Fueled By Ramen. The horror!
The Baker’s Dozen Contents:
1. Almighty Defenders - Bow Down And Die
2. Tunng - Don’t Look Down Or Back
3. DJ Lobsterdust - Alone Wit Chu
4. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Beat The Devil’s Tattoo
Musically, the term “folk” seems to encompass a lot these days, as sub-genres sprout off in wild directions and artists stretch its definition to breaking point. In stark and simple contrast, The Tallest Man On Earth, aka Kristian Matsson, plays stripped-down, no-frills acoustic songs that lets the man and his guitar stand front and center, harking back to folk’s glory days before Dylan plugged in his guitar. Matsson may not have the lyrical urgency or forthrightness of his forebears, but his off-the-cuff if somewhat vague imagery sits comfortably in the insistent melodies he plucks with some aplomb. Not to mention that for a Swede, he sounds convincingly steeped in the musical heritage of the American South and Appalachia.
His full debut of 2008, Shallow Grave, was very well received, and he is back with a new album - The Wild Hunt - released by his new label, Dead Oceans, that picks up where he left off two years ago. First single “King of Spain” is out now, and rides along, light as a feather, as Matsson describes the burning desire of a pale man from the North to conquer Spain and its sun-drenched climes. The album will come out on April 13th, and will hopefully deliver on the promise of his debut and this most recent single.
