I'm sick today and can't concentrate enough to type anything meaningful. So instead I've just embedded three tracks that everyone is talking about. Enjoy!
s/s/s is a collaboration between Sufjan Stevens, Son Lux and rapper Serengeti. 'Museum Day' is the first track to surface from their forthcoming EP Beak and Claw.
Burial & Four Tet 'Nova'. This has been around for a week or so but I only got caught up with it this week. It is kind of what you would expect from these two, but it's very good.
Beach House 'Myth'. This appeared last night and everyone has been banging on about it today. I think it bodes well for the forthcoming album.
Showing posts with label stream. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stream. Show all posts
review: Fucked Up 'Year of the Tiger', plus stream all the Chinese Zodiac singles
Is it still ok to refer to Fucked Up as a hardcore punk band? With their extensive and ambitious discography it seems unfair to pigeonhole them into just one genre. In 2011 they released one of the albums of the year, "David Comes to Life" which was in their own terms a "rock-opera" set in Thatcherite Britain. The album was a lot to take in on its own, but they also produced a fake compilation as a companion to the main release - "David's Town: 11 Original Hits From Byrdesdale Spa, UK!" - and create an intriguing set of accompanying videos.
Now they have released the latest in their series of Chinese Zodiac singles, which is something they have been doing on most Chinese New Year's since 2006. This year it's the Year of the Tiger, and it's another epic - a 15 minute song with lots of time changes and sections, and guest vocal appearances from Austra and the movie director Jim Jarmusch. The band's relationship with Jarmusch extends back the day the director curated at a New York ATP, when he memorably talked about their perfomance on WFMU and called them 'Smurfed Up' throughout.
Fucked Up have a bit of previous regarding experimental and epic single releases. The Looking for Gold 12" from 2004 was 16 minutes in duration, had 18 guitar tracks, a three minute drum solo and five minutes of whistling. 'Year of the Tiger' isn't as out there as that release, and musically it carries on from where the 'David...' album left off.
It's slower in tempo but it has the familiar swell of guitars that characterised last year's album. This time the first voice you hear isn't the familiar rasp of Damian, it's the spoken words of Jim Jarmusch. Their two voices then work together for the first few minutes, and as the pace increases Katie Stelmanis from Austra provides a female vocal for the closing section. It's pretty great, and once again it makes me think that the best adjective to describe Fucked Up's music is "ambitious".
You can stream all the Chinese Zodiac singles from the Matador/ Beggars promo site http://widgets.beggarspromo.com/zodiac/
Now they have released the latest in their series of Chinese Zodiac singles, which is something they have been doing on most Chinese New Year's since 2006. This year it's the Year of the Tiger, and it's another epic - a 15 minute song with lots of time changes and sections, and guest vocal appearances from Austra and the movie director Jim Jarmusch. The band's relationship with Jarmusch extends back the day the director curated at a New York ATP, when he memorably talked about their perfomance on WFMU and called them 'Smurfed Up' throughout.
Fucked Up have a bit of previous regarding experimental and epic single releases. The Looking for Gold 12" from 2004 was 16 minutes in duration, had 18 guitar tracks, a three minute drum solo and five minutes of whistling. 'Year of the Tiger' isn't as out there as that release, and musically it carries on from where the 'David...' album left off.
It's slower in tempo but it has the familiar swell of guitars that characterised last year's album. This time the first voice you hear isn't the familiar rasp of Damian, it's the spoken words of Jim Jarmusch. Their two voices then work together for the first few minutes, and as the pace increases Katie Stelmanis from Austra provides a female vocal for the closing section. It's pretty great, and once again it makes me think that the best adjective to describe Fucked Up's music is "ambitious".
You can stream all the Chinese Zodiac singles from the Matador/ Beggars promo site http://widgets.beggarspromo.com/zodiac/
new releases update: Islet, DeerBazan, Lambchop, Leonard Cohen
January is gradually getting busier and I have lots of bits and bobs to share today; a review of the Deerhoof/ David Bazan split 7", a couple of (very different) album streams and a free download of a new Lambchop track. First of all here is a stream of the new Islet album, released today. The album has already been getting great reviews like this one on the 405. Judge for yourself below.
album stream: Islet 'Illuminated People'
Illuminated People
Illuminated People by shaperecords
review: DeerBazan, limited edition 7" collaboration between Deerhoof and David Bazan
Limited to 2000 copies on translucent blue vinyl, this is the latest in a series of collaborative releases featuring guest vocalists singing their own vocals and words over a Deerhoof composition. Previous releases in the eries have included collaborations with Wilco's Jeff Tweedy and Xiu Xiu. This time it's turn of Bazan, which is essentially the band of David Bazan, formerly of Pedro the Lion and Headphones.
The Deerhoof song they are working with is 'No One Asked to Dance', which was originally an atmospheric and pretty acoustic piece from Deerhoof's last album 'Deerhoof vs Evil', featuring gentle guitars and something resembling a harpsichord. Here they have kept the distinctive guitar parts but Bazan's new words and baritone delivery transform it into something very different, hence the re-titling - 'No One Asked Bazan to Dance'.
The flip side is a cover version of the old Headphones song 'Gas and Matches', which sounds more angular and, well, it sounds more like Deerhoof than the original synth-based tune.
free download: Lambchop 'Gone Tomorrow'
Another track has surfaced from their forthcoming album Mr. M, and this time it's available as a free download from soundcloud.
Lambchop - Gone Tomorrow by cityslang
album stream: Leonard Cohen, 'Old Ideas' via NPR
A brand new album from the 73 year old legend, available as a first listen via NPR and sounding pretty good so far. Click this link to listen
album stream: Islet 'Illuminated People'
Illuminated People
Illuminated People by shaperecords
review: DeerBazan, limited edition 7" collaboration between Deerhoof and David Bazan
The Deerhoof song they are working with is 'No One Asked to Dance', which was originally an atmospheric and pretty acoustic piece from Deerhoof's last album 'Deerhoof vs Evil', featuring gentle guitars and something resembling a harpsichord. Here they have kept the distinctive guitar parts but Bazan's new words and baritone delivery transform it into something very different, hence the re-titling - 'No One Asked Bazan to Dance'.
The flip side is a cover version of the old Headphones song 'Gas and Matches', which sounds more angular and, well, it sounds more like Deerhoof than the original synth-based tune.
free download: Lambchop 'Gone Tomorrow'
Another track has surfaced from their forthcoming album Mr. M, and this time it's available as a free download from soundcloud.
Lambchop - Gone Tomorrow by cityslang
album stream: Leonard Cohen, 'Old Ideas' via NPR
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)