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Amplified is finally going to come out! Wooooo!

AMPLIFIED REDUX

Check out the new Amplified:

www.hmamplified.com

Top 5, Vol. I

High Fidelity is one of my favorite movies of all time.  Based on the Nick Hornby novel of the same name, it follows the story of Rob Gordon (played by John Cusack) who owns a somewhat failing record store in Chicago.  The only thing going worse for Rob than the record store is his love life (LOL).

Anyway, the point of this is throughout the movie Rob, and his two employees (Jack Black shown above), constantly make "Top 5" lists ranging from "top 5 track one, side ones" to "top 5 dream jobs if time, history, salary, and qualifications were no object."

Following this format, I am going to be (hopefully) posting a "Top 5 Songs of the Week" post every week. 

This week I assembled a group of decently random tracks spanning from the eerily beautiful folky "Skinny Love" to the surprisingly good mash-up of "Touch the Sky" (Kanye) and "Electric Feel" (MGMT).  Here is Vol. I.  Enjoy!

5. Freeze- T-Pain (feat. Chris Brown)

4. Dancing Choose- TV On The Radio

3. Electric Touch (MGMT v. Kanye West)- Mighty Mi/Steve1der

2. Skinny Love- Bon Iver

1. Brooklyn Girls- Charles Hamilton

M.I.xed bA.g

You know that feeling when you lose faith in someone you admire... but aren't really sure?

Arguably Sri Lanka's best rapper (one of the many out there...), M.I.A. (born Mathangi Arulpragasam and referred to as "Maya"), started off in the US with the infectious beat of "Galang" in 2005, and received huge critical acclaim for last year's Kala, featuring the singles "Paper Planes", "Boyz", and "Jimmy".  Her last show of her current tour was at the Bonnaroo festival in Manchester, Tennessee, in June; she cancelled the rest of her shows due to exhaustion.

The Sri Lankan Tamils are an ethnic group making up about 2 million people of the Sri Lankan island.  Believers of Tamil nationalism hold the feeling that they should have the right to secede from Sri Lanka, something that originated during the time of the country's British rule.  The Liberation tigers of Tamil Eelam, or the Tamil Tigers, are an organization headed by Velupillai Prabhakaran (or Pirapaharan, transliterations vary), who is wanted by Interpol for terrorism, murder, organized crime, and terrorism conspiracy.  M.I.A. reportedly supports them and their action (keyword: Reportedly), using the loads of money she makes from her music, something that has led disputers (yes, it's a word) to call it "blood music."  Although the website for the organization says that they "do not war" and that they "want peace and to resolve their problems through peaceful means," they have killed hundreds through assassinations, civilian attacks, and suicide bombings, and have performed what they call "ethnic cleansing".  In addition, they have smuggled arms illegally.  

On the other hand, the Sri Lankan government is corrupt in its own right.  And M.I.A. is a genius.  She has always been political, and has tried to be virtually the only artist integrating that into hip hop music-- she said, "Nobody wants to be dancing to political songs.  Every bit of music out there that's making it into the mainstream is really about nothing.  I wanted to see if I could write songs about something important and make it sound like nothing, and it kind of worked."  Her eclectic persona is one of a kind, but kind of weird--she's political, smart, lucrative, noisy, chaotic; her light show is pictures of kids in third world countries.  The artist is the daughter of Tamil militants, but she denies supporting terrorism, and she says that her music is "the voice of a civilian refugee".

According to the organization--considered a terrorist group by 31 countries--the only way to peace in Sri Lanka is their secession; however, their means for getting their are questionable (to say the least).  It's difficult to tell what is true--how violent the organization is, whether they are valiant liberators or terrorists, whether M.I.A. does support them or not--so I'm trying to write objectively in this blog post.  

"One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter."

All we can do is hope that M.I.A's music doesn't cause death.  

Well, enjoy the rest of your day!

 

Video for "Paper Planes"; gunshots in the chorus and some lines led to controversy over its meaning, but she defends it, saying it's a comment on how immigrants and refugees often turn to violence because "people don't feel like the contribute to culture."

WARNING: VERY DISTURBING VIDEOS FROM THIS POINT ON:

Sri Lankan rapper DeLon's response to M.I.A.'s Tamil Tiger support (DISTURBING).  M.I.A. says that DeLon's video is shameless self-promotion.

Tamil Tigers

BJÖRK!

A little over 11 Years ago, Björk released her 4th studio album, Homogenic, a beautiful ten song masterpiece that some would argue "took music to the next level."

While I do know of more than a few people who would disagree with this assertion (myself not included), I can't imagine anyone denying the fact that from this album comes five of the coolest music videos ever made by anyone for any song.

NOTE:

The video for "All Full of Love" was nominated for Best Music Video at the 1998 Grammy Awards, but my personal favorite video is "Hunter."

The five videos in chronological order:

"Jóga"

"Bachelorette"

"Hunter"

"Alarm Call"

"All Full of Love"

BY THE WAY:

My favorite Björk song ever happens to be "Jóga" which I have found bizarre covers of by Ben Gibbard and New Found Glory that are definitely worth checking out.

My Drive Thru

And also check out Santogold's single with Julian Casablancas of the Strokes and rappers N.E.R.D, "My Drive Thru".  Originally recorded for a Converse campaign, the song really is a blend of Santogold's music (however unclassifiable it is), the Strokes' indie alternative rock, and N.E.R.D.'s diverse rap.  The three-note pulsating guitar riff is nothing special, but less is more: it hypnotizes you and only changes key, once.  We get a taste of everything, and are whipped from Pharrell's Prince-like falsetto verses to a melodius Casablancas singing over bell-like synthesized chords, right back to a fierce Santogold whining at the listener with her signature bleak, stark vocals that cohere with her electronica-rock-dub-hiphop sound and make you want to scream them back at her.  

And it has the best Santogold-Casablancas-NERD line ever: "I may look young but your game is prepubescent."

Santogold

Imagine M.I.A. and Beck had a lovechild, and that child grew up in the 80s, and lived across the street from Feist and upstairs from TV on the Radio, and spent her pre-adolescent years sitting in her room with a Walkman and a pair of headphones on. And then the child became an immensely talented lyricist. And then spent years working in the music industry before recording her own album. This child would be named Santogold.

Santogold (aka Santi White) released her self-titled debut album last April. It is an amalgam of about a trillion different genres. It is delicious. Every song seems to allude to a different group of artists. The opening track, "L.E.S. Artistes," could be a Yeah Yeah Yeahs single. Taken out of context, the instrumentals of "Lights Out" and "You'll Find A Way" could have been recorded in 1987. "Creator," a highlight of the album, begins with a fast-paced jazz drum line but quickly descends into complete hip-hop/electronic-dom. A reggae guitar lick and electric rock instrumentals are seamlessly combined in "Shove It," another standout track, in which Santogold clearly defines herself as a fringe artist, calling mainstream music a "joke."

Perhaps the album is best defined by the chorus of "Creator": "Me, I'm a creator / Thrill is to make it up / The rules I break got me a place / Up on the radar."

Though on occasion the album comes dangerously close to being overly-eclectic, Santogold's distinctive vocals, firm grasp of a wide variety of genres and fearlessness in combining all of her influences makes her an artist to watch.

Get the whole album. Now.

ITUNES LINK: Link

Fall Live

          MMJ

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For my inaugural post, I thought I'd make a list of some NYC shows to look forward to this fall, excluding all of the awesome 18+ shows in the city.  And if you're 18, check out the Webster Hall schedule... you won't be disappointed.

Stars w/ Bell X1- Terminal 5, Sat September 20 

Worth mentioning even though it was last Saturday, because the show was as epic as a large club show can get.  Montreal's Stars ("beautiful, eloquent indie pop") creates sonic constellations that include raging guitars, an array of different synths and moog sounds, trumpets, blow keyboards (the keytar's cousin: a keyboard that functions like a wind instrument), and more.  

__________________________________________________________

Beck w/ MGMT - United Palace Theater, Wed-Fri Oct 8-10

Singer-guitarist-rapper-("in the time of chimpanzees I was a monkey")-psycho Beck is back with a killer new album, Modern Guilt, and of course a tour with 3 NY dates.  His new songs aren't as big stage productions as older stuff ("the new stuff is easier to play"), but Modern Guilt's mix of alternative rock, electronic sounds, and a soul/R&B touch hits the spot.  And what could be better: they brought along the most blogged and talked about indie act since the Strokes.

Ra Ra Riot w/ Walter Meego & the Morning Benders - Bowery Ballroom, Thu Oct 16 (16+)

Ra Ra Riot is fun and  easy to listen to (that's not always bad!) alternative indie with a cello and violin, Walter Meego calls his music Pop/Experimental, and the Morning Benders are Kooks wannabes (whether that's a good thing or not) --they opened for them earlier this year--and they're starting to pull it off.

Deerhoof w/ Experimental Dental School & Flying - Irving Plaza, Wed Oct 22

The Killers - Hammerstein Ballroom, Fri Oct 24

They're back with a new album in November, and in the style of Lenny Kravitz's show at Hammerstein in February, they're using the venue as a pre-release in-concert test of the new material.  However, they'll obviously be playing all the songs that you really liked dancing to in 2005 ("Mr. Brightside," "Somebody Told Me"), and all the underrated synth-laden tracks from Sam's Town  ("Bones," "Read My Mind").

The Black Crowes w/ Patti Smith and her Band - Hammerstein Ballroom, Halloween

The two acts played Halloween in NYC last year at the United Palace, and there going at it again, with a GA floor replacing orchestra seats.  The Crowes' blues-rock brings you back and rocks hard, and Smith's anti-rock star persona and music (and awesome cover choices--I hear she's playing "Smells Like Teen Spirit" these days) is legendary. You'll have to weigh it out though--Halloween party or getting spooked out by the Robinson bros?

Smashing Pumpkins - United Palace Theater, Thu/Fri November 6/7

Billy Corgan and co. (original drummer Jimmy Chamberlain and newbies Jeff Schroeder and Ginger Reyes), since their reunion last year, never really came to New York, but in November they're here.  As opposed to the arenas they used to rock, you can pump your fist to their influential grunge in a theater setting.

Drive-By Truckers & The Hold Steady - Terminal 5, Thu/Fri November 6/7

Sounding almost as good as just hanging out with Craig Finn (tHS), the pairing of DBT's southern rock and the Hold Steady's regular guy indie rock (does that exist? they created it.) will make for a great double-headlining show.  

Girl Talk w/ various openers - Terminal 5, Sat/Sun/Tues November 15/16/18

Mashup DJ mixes and weird variations of electronica, mixed with weird-cool-fun stage pranks like crowd surfing on a mattress will make this night awesome.

Tina Turner - Madison Square Garden, Mon December 1

Anyone with any musical sense would 1) be happy TT is finally back and 2) not make fun of two guys going to a Tina Turner show and singing "What's Love Got to Do with It" (not that I'm doing that or anything...) because she is arguably the greatest female performer in the last 50 years (Aretha Franklin's ego has to calm down--Beyoncé calling Turner "the queen" bruised it for some reason).  She looks and sings like she's half her age.

Neil Young w/ Wilco & Everest - Madison Square Garden, Mon/Tues December 15/16

Toronto's finest brings Chicago's finest and newcomers Everest in for the 2-night stand finale of his Chrome Dreams II tour.  You'll get a mix of "Rock/Americana/Indie", wilco music (and that's "wilco" being used as an adjective), and classic rock, folk beauty, and rocking new Neil tunes.

My Morning Jacket - Madison Square Garden, NEW YEAR'S EVE

Get down on your knees, right now, and pray that your parents aren't taking you to some stupid location for a "family vacation" to celebrate the coming of 2009.  As I am already subject to that (what the hell do you do in Phoenix, Arizona in December?!), I hope as many people as possible can experience the thing that is My Morning Jacket.  The most anticipated concert of the rest of 2008, MMJ will be jamming for at least 3 hours, and you will be dancing like you've never danced before to "Highly Suspicious" (which for some reason Evan has mistaken as "bad".) Do yourself a favor and listen to some real good new rock music, and appreciate the genius in our favorite Louisvillians (?): Jim James, "Two-Tone" Tommy Blankenship, Carl Broemel, Bo Koster, and Patrick Hallahan.

Q: Are we not human? A: We are Killers!

A new Killers single was released yesterday.  I'm not personally a huge fan of Brandon Flowers et al, but I did see them in concert a few years ago in Central Park and they were pretty good.  Hot Fuss, The Killers debut album released in 2004 was decent for what it was and included some pretty cool songs:

Smile Like You Mean It:

Somebody Told Me:

The group's sophomore album, Sam's Town (2007) was a good-intentioned swing and miss at making an arena rock album and featured the sub-par single "When You Were Young":

The band's third studio album, Day & Age is set to be released later this year (November 25th, to be exact) and will feature the single, "Human."  In my view, Hot Fuss was a somewhat OK album and its been downhill from there, but judge for yourself:

The Killers- Human

Auto Tune (Let It Rock)

Tally ho.

Has anyone else noticed the influx of the "talkbox" effect in mainstream rap as of late? This aurally pleasing effect of auto-tuning ones voice to hop between different pitches in different registers has become one of the most popular tools in the rap game. from Kanye West, to T-Wayne, to E 40 (joke), this over the top doodad (sp) can be heard on almost any recent song from the past couple months or so. Im not debating whether or not this effect has been in use for a decently long time. It has. I remember (and I am sure my generation remembers too) of a certain techno pop group called Eiffel 65, who pretty much killed the talkbox effect in modern pop, at least for awhile. Even before Eiffiel 65, Guitarist and Songwriter Peter Frampton utilized the talkbox to be intwined with his guitar playing, something that is very strange, but not unpleasing to the ear.

I just dont feel that in the longterm, this effect will continue to shine as one of billboard rap's leading attractions.

Kevin Rudolf (Ft. Lil' Wayne)- Let It Rock

Bajofondo: Mar Dulce

What's more exhilarating, more intoxicating, and sexier than Latin dance? Nothing. Period. I listen to my fair share of American and European electronica; anything that makes me bob my head and tap my foot. But never in my life have I felt the need to get up out of my vinyl blue chair, fly to Argentina, find a sexy Argentinian lady, and do the tango. I have always wanted to feel this need, and up until a week ago, I thought this desire was unattainable. But then, in a miraculous moment, the Music God heard my prayers, and sent to me, Bajofondo!

Bajofondo is a group of producers and musicians, led by Gustavo Santaolalla (a mega producer who has contributed to the music in films such as The Insider and Babel), whose objective is to seamlessly blend tango with modern electronica. This fusion of styles creates an uplifting, invigorating sound. The tracks combine traditional acoustic instruments (accordian, piano, and violin) with programmed beats and sampling, as well as vocals on some tracks. Nelly Furtado, Julieta Venegas, and Elvis Costello are all featured on "Mar Dulce." The album opens up with "Grand Guignol," a drum n' bass driven song that shifts effortlessly from booming piano chords to a tasteful accordian solo, with a drum track pumping all the way through. This tune sets the stage for the rest of "Mar Dulce," which never loses its edge and never produces anything but sheer brilliance. "Ya No Duele" and "Pa' Bailar" will rock any party, that is, if you party with people that have good taste, and "El Mareo" and "Pulmon" will soothe your earbuds, that is, if you have good taste.

Welcome electronic tango into your world of music. Not only will you be amazed by the album but Bajofondo will expand your horizons and get you listening to music you never thought you would be listening to.

Jack's like King Midas as I was told, Everything that he touched turned to gold

Jack White. Since rising like a phoenix from the ashes of a dying Detroit garage scene, White has become a defining figure in modern music. Not only has he stayed true to his garage roots by recording some of the finest albums from the dawn of the new Millennium, but White has worked with artists from Lorretta Lynn to now Alicia Keys. This brings me to the point of my post on the man. White. Jack White. As hopefully some of you out there know, White has recorded the title track for the new Bond flick, Quantum of Solace, starring buff and blond superman Daniel Craig. While the film hopes to live up to Craig's debut as Bond in 2006's Casino Royale, White's track, entitled "Another Way To Die" and featuring Ms. Keys, has little competition from Royale's title track. Some of you may remember Chris Cornell's foray in Bond-land with "You Know My Name," but "Another Way To Die" already outshines it even though it was only released as an instrument for a Coke commercial so far. I eagerly wait for October 28, when the full song will be released. I can only hope its as tasty as new Coke Zero Zero Seven.

Coke Commercial:

Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy!

Four days ago, Seth MacFarlane, the creator of Family Guy and American Dad, launched the first in an online series of cartoon comedy shorts.  He intends to release a new one every week and they can be found either on youtube or his website.  

Warning: If you are one of those people who hate the random cut-aways that occur bi-minutely on  Family Guy, this probably isn't for you.

Super Mario Rescues The Princess:

Why Bob Marley Should Not Have Acted As His Own Attorney:

...Brain Music...

While everyone was posting their summer playlists and trying to hold onto the past, I decided to look into the future, to find something new, to find something to look forward to. Glancing into the New York Times' Arts section yesterday, I found exactly who I was looking for: Alex Chechile and his digital electroencephalograph. In simple terms, an electroencephalograph, or EEG, measures the waves produced by the brain and transcribes them down onto, in his case, a computer. What makes Chechile so special is how he takes something so far from music and creates noises a common instrument is unable to create. By connecting his head to the EEG, then the EEG to his computer, he is able to record the waves of his firing neurons, convert them into sound and edit the noises he, in a way, "imagines" by using software on his computer and better yet, is able to do all of this live without delay. His sound is very comprable to the supposed "drugs" from the Japanese scientists of i-Doser. Brooklyn's Chechile is now teaming up with Mercury Rev, a psychedelic rock band reminiscent of the Flaming Lips, to produce a live sound never seen before. Their first show ever together was last night at a small club in East Village and while Mercury Rev's seventh studio album, Snowflake Midnight, is planned to be released the 29th of September, Chechile came on board after they recorded it. Below is some of Chechile's Brain Music and Mercury Rev's track entitled "Goddess on a Hiway".
Future: 1, Past: 0.

Summer Playlist 3.0

I might as well add on to the collection....these songs are in no particular order and random but bring back memories of a chill summer!

CSS- Music is My Hot Sex

MGMT- Electric Feel

Yelle- A Cause Des Garcons (Tecktonic Remix)

My Morning Jacket- I'm Amazed

John Mayer- Free Fallin

Kooks- Crazy (Gnarls Barkley Cover)

Black Kids- Hurricane Jane

Bob Marley- Jammin

Matisyahu- Jerusalem (Swisha House Remix)

RIO- Shine on (Spencer and Hill Remix)

Strokes- Between Love and HAte

The Virgins- Fernando Pando

The Enemy- Technodancaphobic

The Zutons- Valerie

Vampire Weekend- The Kids Dont Stand a Chance

Rolling Stones- She's a Rainbow

Led Zeppelin- When The Levee Breaks

Lynyrd Skynyrd- That Smell

Beatles- I've Just Seen a Face

Wolf Parade- I'll Believe in Anything

Libertines- Can't Stand Me Now

Aesop Rock- Citronella

Tribe Called Quest- Bonita Applebum

Justice (Boyz Noise Remix)- Phantom Pt. II

Bob Sinclar- Pjanoo

Lil Wayne Ft. Jay Z- Mr. Carter

Estelle FT. Kanye West- American Boy

Basshunter- Now you're Gone

Chromeo- Fancy Footwork

The greatest, so old school... check it out: