Saturday, March 5, 2011

new Death Cab for Cutie: "Codes and Keys"


sounds like old Death Cab. Ben Gibbard played the following two songs last week at his sold out Noisepop show at Great American Music Hall. "Codes and Keys" is supposedly Brian Eno-esque on the album

Codes And Keys (Gibbard Solo, Live in SF) by TwentyFourBit.com

and here is a solo song from Ben, his contribution to the Arthur soundtrack (the 2011 remake of the 1981 film, starring Russell Brand)

When The Sun Goes Down On Your Street (Gibbard Solo, Live in SF) by TwentyFourBit.com

The Strokes Post #628

Albert's on twitter now

Friday, March 4, 2011

new Arctic Monkeys: Brick by Brick

this isn't my favourite, a bit repetitive but there's something interesting about it...
it gets better after the middle point for sure. the guitar gets sleezy and drawn out. I wish the lyrics were more involved but I do dig the dirtiness of the track. I'm an AM fan through and through and am very excited for their new release this year, more details on that soon.


and sorry, video, but the one for Cornerstone will always be the greatest AM video ever. Alex T, you're a fucking legend.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

The Strokes Post #627

so this combines everything I love about old Strokes with everything I love about new Strokes. UCoD in a nutshell, basically


he threw the mic stand! IN A STROKES VIDEO THAT IS NOT A LIVE CONCERT! I worship you, Julian C. that little grin at the end...my g-d that could make a fan girl out of Ozzy.

Monday, February 28, 2011

record review: Radiohead: King of Limbs


There is a certain unspoken "I'm kicking myself as I'm writing this" aspect of reviewing a Radiohead album. On one hand, it's Radiohead, that supermassive creative genius with Thom Yorke acting as it's neck and head. Thom Yorke, who's aeons ahead of you, musically and otherwise.

We're dealing with a super, super natural phenomenon here.

On the other hand, Radiohead is a band. A band with a catalogue of albums, some more impressive than others, some more colourful than others. One thing that can be stated across the board for all of RH's discography is that is takes some time for their music to sink in. But when it does, watch out, because it will take over your life and pale almost every other musical artist or album in comparison. Even King of Limbs' beat drenched predecessor which any music fan is bound to take a liking to almost immediately.

Radiohead's eighth studio album, King of Limbs, is a magnificent ode to individuality. It's like a musical coming of age, the same thing that avant garde artists like Anthony Hagerty do all of the time. It doesn't have to be loud or attention grabbing because it's Radiohead. It can be quiet and subdued and its own entity and still make a place for itself in the music world. This new album might initially come off as one that lacked editing, deliberation or the capacity for radio play. I think I read it described somewhere as an album of "b-sides". But that's like calling Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures an album of b-sides. Just because something strays from the commercial doesn't make it any lesser as a work of art that can be enjoyed by fans and critics alike.

All five members of Radiohead are very much present here. There may not be an abundance of "Paranoid Android" guitar licks but that's because Radiohead is a group of highly evolved musicians. They work together to recreate the sounds of nature, of the open airs and seas. They come together beautifully on the eerie single "Lotus Flower" and the closer, "Separator", which is the closest that Radio comes to In Rainbows.

That being said, my favourite two tracks on this album are the rollicking "Morning Mr Magpie" and the equally enthralling ocean floor ode "Codex". The latter song takes muffled horn sections and drowns them in an sea of Thom's slow and deliberate croon alongside a piano chord progression you would have to toil to forget. I swear Thom must have been possessed by the spirit of the late John Lennon when he wrote "Morning Mr Magpie". It's so very British, so very reminiscent of the history of rock music in that area. Thom's threatening repetitions of "you've got some nerve coming here" makes you think twice about all those wrongs that you pretend not to notice anymore. Give King of Limbs a chance. It might just surprise you and your preconceived notions of entertainment both.
4.6/5

The Strokes Post #626


I love this. almost more than "Under Cover of Darkness". almost.
this is the Juicebox to UCOD's YOLO.
it hits the spot in so many ways.

yo Nikolaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaai. let's go. party.