The Strokes Post #279

greatest.caption.ever. well done, SPIN.
[disclaimer: they do misquote the lyrics to "11th D." in the review, but all is well.]

Saturday Music Definitions: Booze

we Americans like to fill our idle time with gluttony and drunkenness.

AC/DC - Have a Drink on Me [mp3]

Oasis - Cigarettes & Alcohol [mp3]

Thom Yorke - The Drunkk Machine [mp3]

Ryan Adams - Drunk & Fucked Up [mp3]

Gogol Bordello - Alcohol [mp3]
I never really got this band until I picked up their latest album, Super Taranta! it's insanely good, so do as I did and pump up the volume while you're speeding on your way home from the record store.

Band of the Week: En Tout Cas

for fans of: The Horrors, Tokyo Police Club, The Wombats, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Rakes

This young Australian band (whose French name means "In Any Case") have yet to falter musically. Unlike many bands today, En Tout Cas' songs are not too loud or too quiet; both songwriting and sound mixing have been superbly executed. Offering a fine selection of demos on their Elevater EP, En Tout Cas build half-apathetic, half-urgent vocals and steady drums over an essential guitar base to do as hundreds of indie/alternative bands have done before them: pay homage to the frustrating invisibility of musical integrity.

"Quarter Sins" takes basic post punk elements and gives them a subtly sinister spin. The intro to "Out of Time" is reminiscent of "Adam's Song" by Blink 182, but it soon reverts to the band's slightly dance tinged garage rock.

They create musical solace for estranged listeners through cooperative harmony. In this internet age, it's easy to feel disconnected from the world (despite or because of having everything at your fingertips, all of the time), but it is reassuring to hear that there are still bands that can unite us. Long live the tradition which The Smiths perfected: of escaping the mundane through headphones.

En Tout Cas - Steal Your Soul [mp3]

En Tout Cas are not wildly original but they are strikingly earnest and this genuineness compels repeated listens.

They are currently recording a new EP, but you can download each and every song from Elevater for FREE at last.fm

visit them on MYSPACE

Jimmy Cain, Dave Cameron, Skube Burnell and Marc Stubberfield are from Melbourne and they want to rock your socks off.

shows:

Dec 5 2009 8:00P The Birmingham Fitzroy, Melbourne
Dec 16 2009 8:00P The Tote Collingwood, Melbourne
Jan 8 2010 8:00P ’Denghi Fever’ Single Launch - The Evelyn Fitzroy, Melbourne

Telekinesis: new song + Daytrotter session!

Michael Benjamin Lerner can do no wrong.
He's finally recorded a Daytrotter session, and it includes a brand spanking new song, download below!

Telekinesis - untitled (new song, daytrotter) [mp3]

"You can't really say that Lerner borrows the lessons learned from his friend Walla's band or the lyrical techniques that its lead singer Ben Gibbard has down to a science because everything about his debut EP and its companion full-length - both released last year on Merge Records - are so sincere and the convey those feelings and emotional currents that can't be faked."

<3
read the rest of the article and download all of the songs at DAYTROTTER

BONUS:
Frightened Rabbit did their second Daytrotter session yesterday. gonna get listening to that right now...

The Strokes Post #278

you know, "NYC Cops" is the greatest, but this song is embedded in my skin. the UK version of Is This It reigns supreme in my book, but the US version was the one that I listened to over and over and over again when I first discovered The Strokes (months and months before I even heard NYC Cops). so how could I hate this song? how could I hate any Strokes song?

the solo in this song is so pretty. I've noticed that since 2002, they don't play this song very much. the only other youtube video I found of this song was at Horseshoe Tavern

Classic Track Thursday

Chuck Berry - Johnny B Goode [mp3]

when my best friend was 12, she accompanied her parents to their super-loaded boss's 50th birthday party. he had hired Chuck Berry to play that night.

when she tried to tell me this story, she couldn't remember Chuck Berry's name, and as she described him to me and I said "no, you can't mean Chuck Berry" and she said "YES, HIM". she later confirmed with her mother and I have never been able to properly forgive her for having such an incredible, once-in-a-lifetime experience.

all we can do is sit here and thank Chuck for paving the road for rock n roll as we know it today.

The Strokes Post #277

I am thankful for time to read, the smell of clean laundry, and Strokes bootlegs.

The Strokes - Live @ Trabendo Paris (December 3rd 2005) [ZIP, entire concert]

1. Intro
2. Heart in a Cage
3. Hawaii
4. Evening Sun
5. The End Has No End
6. Barely Legal
7. Juicebox
8. Red Light
9. Last Nite
10. Hard to Explain
11. Razorblade
12. What Ever Happened
13. You Only Live Once
14. Someday
15. 15 Minutes
16. Reptilia

17. NYC Cops
18. Electricityscape
19. Take It Or Leave It

this has almost the exact setlist as the boot I posted on Monday (probably because the two concerts are only three days apart), but has a few variations, including the inclusion of "15 Minutes" (yay)

The Strokes Post #276

record review: Them Crooked Vultures (eponymous debut)

I remember the first time I heard of peanut butter pretzels. My pre-marijuana self salivated at the thought of the exquisite combination of two of the greatest salty foods ever.

The first time I ate one, though, was a whole other world of explosive. My 10th grade English teacher brought some in for the class one day. The texture, the layered intensity and flakiness…I even remember the passage from Medea we were working on that day…But I digress.

John Paul Jones.
Dave Grohl.
Josh Homme.
A triple threat? Yes, very much so.

So how is it that the first few times I gave their album a listen, I never got past the whole “hot damn this sounds like sex on a stick” thing? It may have been the fact that I was kind-of-sort-of inebriated the first time I heard the album in its entirety, and subsequently only listened to it while multitasking. Yesterday, I was listening to it with headphones on for the first time, and I noticed that Dave lends his vocals on the irresistibly grimy second track, “Mind Eraser, No Chaser” (which, strangely enough, concludes with a set of child friendly horns, echoing a video game I played once upon a time called Banjo Kazooie). But my mighty little earbuds also helped me notice something else.

This album is fucking insane. The precision with which the above mentioned musicians go about constructing this album is mind-boggling to say the least. This phenomenal debut is so intrinsically superior to what our ears are used to hearing, that it is incredibly easy for the songs to float right in one ear and out the other without so much as a dazzled expression of delighted disorientation on our parts.

Don’t let this be an album you overlook, for the very paradoxical reason that you know it will rock your world. Sometimes, the sum of an equation is far greater than its parts, even if the things you begin with are your favourite things.

This album is so much more than anything Led Zeppelin, Foo Fighters, or Queens of the Stone Age have ever released. No, I’m not making the claim that it is BETTER. Just that the combination of three of the most aggressively dedicated, no-nonsense men in the music biz is something mind blowing indeed.

They are a majestic force, and the greatest part of it is that there IS NO FRONTMAN. They are collaborating in every sense of the word. It’s a beautiful cycle indeed, seeing such forerunners of rock’s different chronological and genre-based subsets convolve ever so seamlessly.

It’s funny how albums which initially seem to lack diversity within songwriting quickly emerge as collections of such a wide array of aural opulence. Right now, each song sounds so distinct, so deliciously subversive.

If we were all highly musically evolved, this album would be an instant classic. Alas, some of us need a few listens to get settled, but from then on out, it's a no brainer. I must admit that even I had to let go of my own shortcomings as a mere mortal to be able to grasp the greatness that is
THEM
CROOKED
VULTURES.

Pick up this album and ready yourself for a filthily magnificent ride into the depths of hell. Long live rock n roll.

4.5/5

Them Crooked Vultures - Dead End Friends [mp3]

preorder: new Grand Lake EP (out 12/8)

Grand Lake - Slow Education (Silver Jews Cover) from Army of Middle on Vimeo.

while many musicians are turning to over-produced, synth-heavy tunes to achieve (what is often the illusion of) musical greatness, Oakland's Grand Lake have set themselves apart from the flock by pedalling backwards into Pixies-meets-Misfits territory on their latest EP, Louise.

they combine their signature distorted guitars with Caleb Nichols' ever-evolving vocals on two new songs (which are actually samplings of their first full length album, due out next Spring) and two covers (Port O Brien's "Pigeonhold" and Silver Jews' "Slow Education".) you can really hear early Radiohead influences on the original tracks, and it is nothing short of musical bliss.

preorder the EP for six dollars (including shipping!) on the band's MYSPACE

and definitely check em out if you're in the area

12/07 @ the Knockout
12/18 @ the Uptown in Oakland w/ Pancho San, Sparrow's Gate and Man/Miracle

I'd post an mp3, but I'd rather you guys bought the EP, or better yet, show your support at a show. the boys have got to eat. in any case, you can stream the new songs on the band's MYSPACE, I'd recommend the title song, "Louise" and the Silver Jews cover posted above.

The Strokes Post #275

a friend of mine once made me a mix called "safe haven from the mundane". that's how I feel about The Strokes, right now, and always.

Casper Bangs - Queen of Hearts

you know how everybody's been talking about the xx, The Drums, The Big Pink? if you're like me and don't get the hype about those bands, or, if you're REALLY like me and can't stand those bands, listen below.

Casper Bangs - Queen of Hearts [mp3, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!]

take it from me, this song is very worthy of your time and ears. perfectly crafted, like The Pains of Being Pure At Heart but less intensely MBV and more rolling-in-the ocean-esque. like Sonic Youth at the beach. damn it, Casper Bangs is so much better than this mess.

the EP is available as a name-your-own-price-digital download. head on over to check it out.

buy the 7" HERE

official stats:

"Rob Pierangeli, otherwise known as the DC-based singer-songwriter, Casper Bangs, is releasing Whitespace 7" EP as a preview to his upcoming full length record, I Woke Up" (release date: 01 December 2009)

shows:
11/19---Rock & Roll Hotel with Stellastarr---Washington, DC
12/3---Pianos---nYc

visit Casper Bangs on MYSPACE

"the people you've been before that you don't want around anymore"

DEATH be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadfull, for, thou art not so,
For, those, whom thou think'st, thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poore death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleepe, which but thy pictures bee,
Much pleasure, then from thee, much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee doe goe,
Rest of their bones, and soules deliverie.
Thou art slave to Fate, Chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poyson, warre, and sicknesse dwell,
And poppie, or charmes can make us sleepe as well,
And better then thy stroake; why swell'st thou then;
One short sleepe past, wee wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.
-John Donne


- Elliott Smith

The Strokes Post #274

The Strokes @ Melkweg, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (06 December 2005) [ZIP FILE, ENTIRE CONCERT]

1. Heart in a Cage

2. Hawaii

3. Evening Sun

4. The End Has No End

5. Barely Legal

"I love Albert too"

6. Juicebox

7. Red Light

acquired taste my ass, "Red Light" is the shit.

8. Last Nite

then again, there is no denying that this is the Strokes' sluttiest song, if yknowwhatImean.

9. Hard to Explain

"I'm ready when you are, Fabrizio"

best intro to "Hard To Explain". ever.

10. Razorblade

11. What Ever Happened

12. You Only Live Once

13. Someday

14. Reptilia

15. New York City Cops

16. Soma

17. Take It Or Leave It

Sunday Morning Covers

ZIP FILE

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Sheena is a Punk Rocker (Ramones cover) [mp3]
if Shane is reading this, the song was from the War Child compilation. but yeah, Dark was the Night is pretty awesome.

Lissy Trullie - Ready for the Floor (Hot Chip cover) [mp3]

Delta Spirit - Peace in the Valley (Dawes cover) [mp3]
this is so cool, they cover a song by a band whom they toured with. that's just so cool of them

Death Cab for Cutie - Rocking Chair (The Band cover) [mp3]

Snow Patrol - Crazy in Love (Beyonce cover) [mp3]

Editors - Road to Nowhere (Editors cover) [mp3]

Ben Folds - Such Great Heights (Postal Service cover) [mp3]

The Last Shadow Puppets - Wondrous Place (Billy Fury cover) [mp3]

Beck - Green Light (Sonic Youth) [mp3]

Ron Sexsmith - Listen To What The Man Said (Wings cover) [mp3]

The Morning Benders - Marie (Randy Newman cover) [mp3]

Nouvelle Vague - The Guns of Brixton (The Clash cover) [mp3]

Elliott Smith - Stroke it Noel (Big Star cover) [mp3]

The Strokes Post #273

ok so I am kind of disgusted right now. seriously, I feel like throwing up.

this chick is retarded.
she's trying to copy everything about me.
she calls herself "strokesjunkie" on the Julian Casablancas forum. that is my username for the hardtoexplain forum, forums.thestrokes.com, last.fm and also one of my youtube accounts,
I think she's one of two girls who jumped on stage at last Friday's show. I don't appreciate that. I hope Julian doesn't hate me for "starting" this nonsense. I just wanted to show him my gratitude.
she got a 12:51 tattoo (sorry, it looks kind of retarded, 'cause it's not an exact reflection, and that's the point)
what the hell? really, get your own fucking identity.
I hope I don't come off as a bitch but this chick seems crazy.
and she is apparently friends with the infamous Max Fischer.
this is just one bit of her craziness: "well, like i said, i heard it from the man himself, they are waiting to find out, he said she is due in january. Being a mom, i know the feeling of being pregnant...and i can only imagine being pregnant with HIS child!!!!!!!!!! oh my god.............................................................................that juliet is one lucky woman!!! i just want him in between my legs, just once! "
that is so fucking creepy. I pity her child, I do.

in nicer news, a very nice reader of mine wrote the lovliest post about me. to my dear Silvia (Cansong), thank you from the bottom of my heart. those are some of the nicest words I've ever read about myself, and I do appreciate it. you really do understand how much I respect Julian. thank you.

UPDATE:
this is kind of cool, my youtube video of Glass (+ epic stage jump) has made it to the big leagues (NME)!

Saturday Music Definitions: Real

Jeff Buckley - So Real [mp3]

Margot and the Nuclear So and So's - Real Naked Girls [mp3]

Okkervil River - For Real [mp3]

Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - Real Emotional Trash [mp3]

The Stooges - Real Cool Time [mp3]

Voxtrot - Real Live Version [mp3]

The Strokes Post #272