September 2nd, 2009
Today is hirsute white person day at the Passion of the Weiss. Clearly, it’s a corollary to yesterday’s revelation that I secretly hate hip-hop, especially the dromedary-looking fellow who sampled Orphan Annie. Concluding this bearded extravaganza is Division Day, a local band that has recently and deservedly received high praise from both the LA Weekly and Buzz Bands.
If you wrote them off as an over-hyped blog band following 2006’s Beartrap Island, the Dangerbird-released Visitation will likely surprise you. It’s one of the best LA indie rock records of the year, a genre which I hear is now a movement. In advance of their show tonight at Spaceland, I spoke with Division Day guitarist Ryan Wilson for Pop and Hiss. There are rumors that Sean Carter and B and Bleek will be there. If so, I will buy him an ice cold Budweiser (he gets a commission for that, I believe) and ask him about his favorite Coldplay, Kings of Leon, and Alphaville B-Sides.
Download:
MP3: Division Day-”Chalklines”
Posted in LA Times | No Comments »
September 2nd, 2009
Akron/Family performing “Ed is a Portal” at the Secretly Canadian/Jagjaguwar/Dead Oceans showcase was my favorite moment of this year’s SXSW. The Rza isn’t the only one who is a hip-hop hippie. Of course, watching a secondhand YouTube clip can only do so much for you. Kief-coated Bong rips may help–if you’re into that sort of thing.
The perils of Dead-derived music–and really any experimental outfit–is that off nights are to be expected. Sometimes, you don’t have your best fastball, your curve lacks bite, and your spitball flies into the wind. It happens. That said, I’ll take the erratic Akron over nearly any other working band. My full review of their show at the El Rey is at the Times site–if you’re into that sort of thing.
LA Times: The Innovative Experimentation of Akron/Family
Download:
MP3: Akron/Family-”River”
MP3: Akron/Family-”Ed is a Portal” (Left-Click)
MP3: Akron/Family-”Birth/ Or Bodies” (Left-Click)
MP3: Akron/Family-”Running Returning”
Posted in LA Times | 2 Comments »
September 1st, 2009
Yesterday, in the midst of the commotion regarding the leak of Blueprint 3, my editors at the Times requested that I do a first-listen live-blog review. The result is up now, with roughly half the best jokes and three quarters of the venom siphoned out. It’s probably for the best. Had my original draft ran, I imagine I would be taken off the Roc Nation Christmas list and wouldn’t get my free Mr. Hudson stocking stuffers. How could I live without a Yuletide fruitcake featuring Mr. Hudson’s face? Roc-A-Fella, y’all.
It’s difficult to have a more visceral disdain for a Jay-Z record. Kingdom Come was probably worse, but it’s chief crime was absolute boredom. There’s something deeply disturbing about Blueprint 3–not only does it feature some of the worst moments of Sean Carter’s career, it’s arrogant but lacks swagger, it’s cocky but not confident, it seems to regard white kids in Williamsburg as the apotheosis of cool. I’m all for Jay-Z seeing a Grizzly Bear show–after all, who am I to talk? But this feels like an effort from an old man who picked up a two years-old copy of The Fader, studied the Style section, and relied on Kanye and Timbaland to tell him what THE FUTURE sounds like.
It’s simultaneously over-cooked and half-baked, it’s needlessly self-congratulatory, it’s totally contrived. Blueprint’s 3 sole conceit is to usher in some weird new progressive era that Jay can only speak about with vague platitudes. It’s hard to hate Jay-Z. He’s been one of my favorite rappers since I heard “Brooklyn’s Finest” on a badly dubbed tape in my friend’s falling-apart Ford Aspire in 1996, but this is just pathetic. Though I suppose some congrats are in store. 50 years from now when we’re listening to music through chips in our brains, we’ll also remember Blueprint 3 for “Young Forever,” which established a visionary new sub-genre: Bar-Mitzvah montage rap.
LA Times: First Listen–Jay-Z’s-”Blueprint 3″
Posted in LA Times | 27 Comments »
August 28th, 2009
Photo By Jeff Cowan
I stopped having a “favorite band” when I started to take this whole writing about music thing seriously. It seemed a relic of childhood absolutism, where there is A FAVORITE BASEBALL PLAYER (Eric Davis), FOOD (McDonald’s hamburgers), LATE NIGHT TALK SHOW HOST (Tom Snyder, be thy name).
But for this week–at least until Akron/Family comes to town on Saturday–Dungen is my favorite band. As you might infer from the title, my Times review of Wednesday’s Troubadour performance analyzes the band through the narrow prism of psychedelic music. However, they’re much more than the sum of guitar solos and Swedish chef crooning. While you don’t necessarily need drugs to enjoy their music, Dungen is the best advertisement for narcotics since The Never Ending Story.
LA Times: Dungen’s Redefinition of Psychedelia
Below the jump: music from both Dungen and their excellent Swedish psychedelic forebears, plus a link to the entire photo gallery.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in LA Times | 6 Comments »
July 25th, 2009
In my ongoing quest to avoid asking the 1,247th consecutive musician what they hope to achieve in the future, I discussed Summer Jamz with the Cut Chemist: specifically, his love of 80s French Industrial music, Metric, and that Michael Jackson fellow. We also discussed the new album that he hopes to drop next Spring, from which he will unveil several tracks tonight at the Getty. Cut from the final draft was was the revelation that Lucas Macfadden listens to almost zero new hip-hop, and continually returns to his old Main Source, Organized Konfusion, and De La Soul albums. I cannot really fault this.
If for some reason, you’re scrunching your face as to why I’d care enough to interview the former DJ from Jurassic 5, then obviously you never heard Brainfreeze, his live funk and soul mix with DJ Shadow (or its worthy sequels, Product Placement and The Hard Sell). Thankfully, we can remedy this just in time for Saturday night.
ZIP: DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist-Brainfreeze (Left-Click)
Posted in LA Times | 3 Comments »
July 24th, 2009
A quick one before I head to an undisclosed locale that involves absinthe appetizers, scantily clad women, and Cypress Hill. I should probably watch Nosaj Thing and Daddy Kev crush the Roxy tonight, but I’m clearly striving to embody the spirit of the Los Angeles D-bag. Although, to paraphrase Jay, I could be a fedora away my whole career, as long as Spencer Pratt’s alive I’m merely second-tier. Or something.
Senseless sarcasm aside, I spoke with Nosaj Thing about his chief influences: Dilla, Dre, Radiohead, and Boards of Canada. If you’re interested, it’s over at the Times Pop and Hiss blog . Even if you’re not, as your faithful solicitor, I advise you to download the MP3’s below, off Jason Chung’s excellent Views/Octopus and Remixes EP’s.
Download:
MP3: Nosaj Thing-”Heart Entire”
MP3: Nosaj Thing-”I Get Money by 50 Cent (Lazer Sword Neon Hot Pockets Remix)
Posted in Low End Theory, LA Times | 1 Comment »
July 17th, 2009
I was offered the chance to see Amadou & Miriam open for Coldplay tomorrow night. While the former rank among my favorite blind Malian husband and wife duos ever (just below the Blind Boys of Bamako, just ahead of the Timbuktu Two-Steppers), I’ll be heading to Beach Dazed instead. Partially, because I don’t think I can handle the emetic sororo-crowds that clot for Coldplay, partially because I am a sucker for any place that promises performances from Voxtrot, Busdriver, RJD2, Korean BBQ, Slip-N-Slides, and free ice cream. I am a simple man. I wrote a preview for Pop and Hiss, which is likely superfluous for this crowd, but you never know.
Thanks to the FMLY and The Tape for putting this thing on, and for putting up the Beach Dazed playlist that you can snag after the jump.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in News, LA Times | No Comments »
July 7th, 2009
One last M.J. post–no more eulogizing in this space–just a simple re-direct to Pop and Hiss, where last week I ranked Jackson’s five greatest hip-hop samples (in no particular order). For a more comprehensive list and more MP3’s, head to T.R.O.Y.
LA Times: Break-Beat It: Kanye, Nas and the best Michael Jackson samples in hip-hop
Download:
MP3: Michael Jackson-”I Can’t Help It”
MP3: De La Soul-”Breakadawn”
MP3: Michael Jackson-”People Make the World Go Round”
MP3: Mobb Deep-”Apostle’s Warning”
Posted in LA Times | 1 Comment »
July 6th, 2009
Sasha Frere-Jones said it well: if you miss Fripp-Eno eBow guitar styles, check Citay, who foolishly did NOT call their album “Livin’ For The.”
Ezra Feinberg & Co. would be also well-served with “New Jack Citay”(M.O.P. version), “Bright Lights Big Citay” (Capo cover) or “Built This Citay” (Diplomats not Jefferson Starship). I interviewed Citay’s frontman for the Times last week. If you’re into pretty prog-rock filled with gravity bong guitar solos, this may be for you. Their last album, Little Kingdom was my 29th favorite of 07 and according to Feinberg, the new one features heavier guitars, Galaxie 500 covers, and free tabs of orange sunshine.
LA Times: Upcoming: Citay at the Silverlake Lounge
Download:
MP3: Citay-”First Fantasy”
Posted in LA Times | No Comments »
July 6th, 2009
My Times review was severely truncated due to space constraints, so I’m posting the original below the jump, complete with tons of corny but apropos Back to the Future jokes. In short, Back to the Feature is blandly enjoyable. Wale’ s ambitions are minimal this go-round–a bizarre shift for someone with obviously grandiose goals. If I were a betting man, I’d wager he’s saving the heavy artillery for Attention Deficit–let’s hope. Let’s also pray for more State Prop and less 9th Wonder. With the contemporary underground churning out the likes of Exile, Jake One, Flying Lotus, Black Milk, et. al, is it really necessary to rely on these melted soft serve sounds?
Also, let’s be unequivocal, complaining about someone un-following you from Twitter is the most trifling dilemma I’ve heard since Asher Roth bitched about forgetting his iPod on an airplane. That said, I’ll still ride for Wale. Flaws aside, this is a good tape with good rapping–it’s just that you get what you pay for.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in LA Times | 9 Comments »
