Band of the Week: The Raconteurs

Jack White is an incredibly talented man, I doubt anyone could argue otherwise. however, I do feel that his talents are not fully tapped in The White Stripes. for this reason, I regularly turn to The Raconteurs for a nice dose of Jack. even in his new project The Dead Weather, I feel like he is more of a behind-the-curtain voice of (sinister) reason rather than the heart and soul of the band. The Dead Weather will always sound more like what it is: a collaboration. The Raconteurs, on the other hand, is Jack's proper music baby. the one with the trust fund and well documented progression a la photo albums and/or banjo fascinations.

with two well rounded and highly listenable albums under their belt, The Raconteurs combine the very best elements of blues, folk, and good ol' rock, best expressed through Jack's unmistakably memorable vocal deliveries. the live shows are killer too.

here are a couple of their mellow tracks (which also happen to be two of my favourites)

The Raconteurs - Together [mp3]

from Broken Boy Soldiers

The Raconteurs - You Don't Understand Me [mp3]
from Consolers of the Lonely

and a crazier one, just for good measure:



PS Brendan Benson is incredibly attractive.

The Strokes Post #236

thanks to Allie for bringing this excellent photo to my attention!
happy weekend everyone.

Classic Track Thursday

I really like the Violent Femmes. if I listened to them more, I could claim that I loved them, but alas, they are one of those great bands that have (up until now) eluded my focus. one of those bands that really makes me wish that I worked in a record store and could spend all of my time listening to new music. because itunes will never replace that amazing feeling of coming across gems like this album in the clearance rack of your favourite record store, and that glorious feeling of recognition of being in the presence of greatness, in musical pioneer form. because all of that will make me listen to this band more, and I will inevitably become a better person in doing so.

this is the first track from their self titled 1983 debut, and it makes me smile just to imagine all of those alternative kids listening to this album while everyone else gushed over Duran Duran.

Violent Femmes - Blister in the Sun [mp3]

The Strokes Post #235

thanks to everyone who emailed me about this,

you can now sample each and every track from Phrazes for the Young a la the Deutsch Amazon.

if I am going to be completely honest, I was actually really surprised to find out that the critics are spot fucking on: it sounds NOTHING like The Strokes. this troubles me a bit. tracks 1, 4 and 7 really intrigued me, but, I dunno, I had different things in mind. is it so bad that I really don't fare well with super experimental stuff? I'd much rather listen to Never Mind the Bollocks any day of the week.

I think at this point, I am just going to wait for the proper album release. what do you think?

White Denim - I Start to Run

this is track of the day from RCRD LBL (the website which first exposed me to the band!) and it commemorates the long-awaited US release of the band's sophomore album, Fits, next Tuesday

the song sounds like it's on drugs, which is a great thing. I will definitely be picking this album up.

head on over to download the song and read a review of the album, or you can download it below:

White Denim - I Start to Run [mp3]

visit the Texan boys on MYSPACE

The Strokes Post #234

y'all must have noticed that I repost things every now and then, especially things that I love.

today is no exception.



this post was came into existence because I watched this last night and it got me really excited about her concert at the Fox in a couple of weeks. I'm pretty sure Little Joy are opening. I love everything about Regina, down to the fact that she was "discovered" by my favourite band and then proceeded to make sexy videos with them (see above). and I mean "sexy" in the Holden Caulfield sense.

The Strokes Post #233

Connor from the UK was nice enough to send me a bootleg called Triple J and I was about to publish a post with all of the tracks until I realized that it was a bootleg I already had...labelled as "live at the wireless". the moment of realization was when I heard Jules call NYC Cops a love song. oh well, y'all might as well give the bootleg another listen, it's gold!

thanks anyways Connor! and if any of you ever stumble upon a live version of "Fear of Sleep", send it to me, because Connor is dying to hear it.

I am such a shameless Is This It junkie, these bootlegs make me salivate. the band clearly sounds young here (and in other similar 2001 performances): the cadence is faster, yet more deliberate. I love it.

The Strokes Post #232

I miss this Jules. the one who didn't let his record label fuck his fans over. I really am quite pissed over Phrazes, but I know for a fact that my anger will dissipate when I hear the album. alas, I am terrible at being patient.

The Strokes Post #231

I'm in a concert mood today.

The Strokes - Wireless Festival, 21 June 2006 [ZIP FILE, ENTIRE CONCERT]


I think I actually have all of the videos to this concert somewhere on my external harddrive. I'll upload them to youtube soon.

1. Heart in a Cage [mp3]
2. You Only Live Once [mp3]
Julian adds some interesting lyrics near the end =)
3. The End Has No End [mp3]
I was singing this song really loudly (alongside Jules in my headphones) after my run yesterday, and scared a couple of my elderly neighbors who were in their front yard
4. Red Light [mp3]
5. Juicebox [mp3]
6. Someday [mp3]
7. Electricityscape [mp3]
8. Hard to Explain [mp3]
introduced with Julian singing a snippet of a very famous Franz Ferdinand song...as if the song weren't epic enough already XD
9. Last Nite [mp3]
I thank the universe every day for The Strokes.
10. Ize of the World [mp3]
hear that crowd go. I am so very green with envy.
11. Reptilia [mp3]
12. Ask Me Anything [mp3]
13. Vision of Division
14. Barely Legal [mp3]
15. New York City Cops [mp3]
16. Walk on the Wildside (Lou Reed cover) [mp3]
17. Take It Or Leave It [mp3]

what a masterfully created setlist. I love that they played "Ask Me Anything" at a festival. personally, I think the song is genius, but I could see how a person not familiar with The Strokes might be put off by it. yet they have the audacity to play it in front of such a large crowd, despite Julian claiming "it's pretty much a guaranteed bad idea". I love that.

unfortunately, like most of their 2006 concerts, their are almost no songs from Room on Fire.

Sunday Morning Covers

ZIP FILE

1. metric - the end has no end (the strokes)
2. arcade fire - i'm so bored with the use (the clash)
3. john mayer - kid a (radiohead)
4. death cab - love song (the cure)
5. rufus wainwright - somewhere over the rainbow (judy garland)
6. nirvana - my sharona (the knack)
7. no age - it's so quiet (bjork)
8. the wombats - patience (nick lachey)
9. eels - i'm a loser (the beatles)

The Strokes Post #230

I just realized that I forgot to do a Strokes post yesterday. I had a chance to go online, but erm it must have slipped my mind.

Band of the Week: Arcade Fire

I love Arcade Fire, and their orchestral sound is especially electrifying while one is under the influence of mind altering substances. They have produced two perfect albums, and their live shows are said to be unparalleled. The band is currently working on their third album (which I am eagerly awaiting, especially because of the subsequent tour), while enjoying being featured on the trailer to Where The Wild Things Are

The thing I really like about Arcade Fire is that they don't try to be quirky or deliberately unique and nothing ever seems forced from them. Their perfectly balanced sound is a result of their naturalness; the smart way with which they approach music lets their craft speak for itself. They are dedicated to their musicianship, and leave the silliness to other bands.

Their music includes baroque elements without sounding sleepy, on the contrary, it's quite stimulating. They are one of a handful of bands that I am dying to see in concert. Arcade Fire consists of Win Butler, his wife Regine Chassagne, Richard Reed Perry, William Butler, Tim Kingsbury, Sarah Neufeld, Jeremy Gara and Owen Pallett, who play various instruments that get your blood tingling. They even did a cover of a Clash song, check it out in this week's Sunday Morning Covers.

Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #3 (Power Out) [mp3]
from Funeral

Arcade Fire - No Cars Go [mp3]
from Neon Bible

this is one of my favourite videos on youtube:


visit the band on MYSPACE

Saturday Music Definitions: Stoned

s
o


s
t
o
n

e
d


Bob Dylan - Everybody must be stoned [mp3]

Kaki King - Lovestoned (JT cover) [mp3]

Sublime - Let's Go Get Stoned [mp3]

Van Morrisson - And it Stoned me [mp3]

this post was a lot of fun to tyype!#!

oh Radiohead.

what silly boys they are.

this news makes me very very happy.

The Strokes Post #229

Nikolai has always been a superhero to me, even before this recent bout of awesomeness-embodied-in-marathon training. his bass playing in Is This It was actually the thing that got me to separate the different instruments in music for the first time. before that, music was all just one sound to me, if that makes sense. after I heard Nikolai's part in the title song, everything changed. I really began to listen to music.

Nikolai has always been a huge source of inspiration to me. bass guitar is my favourite instrument, a claim I have began to make since I started listening to the band. he really PLAYS the bass. I love it. he was on my mind while I was running today (as I was listening to The Strokes of course). it was Room on Fire, and as I was listening, I realized something that makes The Strokes so unlike every other band:

even though they only have three albums, (almost) everyone who really LISTENS to them beyond the first handful of singles really becomes a full on fan, and these fans begin to cite The Strokes as their favourite band. the great thing about the singles is that they make you want to hear more, and, of course, that almost every Strokes song could easily be a single.

most bands with three albums are considered too "young" to matter, but The Strokes have always made every song count. the fact that there are only three albums makes them accessible...it's quite easy to completely absorb everything in a couple of weeks or months. they don't have any superfluous or filler albums or songs. everything is an important piece of the puzzle. you don't have to worry about accidentally buying one of their boring albums. their music is so listenable that it compels repeated listens.

I think about bands like Wilco, whom a lot of my friends at Berkeley (mainly stoner co-op folk) cite as their favourite band...and I think of their reaction to my lack of enthusiasm for the band, and they say "well yeah, they have some lulls but Being There is incredible" or "I adore everything before _____ album". the same thing goes for other bands.

not The Strokes.

I love them so much it's insane, but at this point, it is the only think that makes any sense in my life...everything else is inane. just for the record, that wasn't a typo, I specifically left out the "s".

The Swing Movement: new site + free songs

The Swing Movement are a great band from the UK that I really quite dig and hope with all of my heart will strike gold and gain recognition for their darkly catchy dance numbers.

they have a nifty NEW WEBSITE and are hosting free downloads of the three following songs: "To The Bone" and "Tarantula" and "Jigsaw"
head on over and check it out!

visit the band on MYSPACE for more tunes and/or info

Magnet: over/underrated Dead Kennedys songs

The Dead Kennedys are a band that I got into after starting this music blog. the more I learned about/listened to punk music, the more I heard about the band until I finally checked their music out. needless to say, they lived up to my wildest expectations and their music blew me to pieces. it still does.

here's what Magnet thinks about their short but solid discography (4 studio albums and a handful of miscellanea):

overrated:

1. When You Get Drafted
2. Riot
3. Chickenshit Conformist
4. Too Drunk to Fuck
5. Terminal Hippie

underrated:
1. Funland at the Beach
2. Halloween
3. Where Do Ya Draw the Line?
4. We’ve Got a Bigger Problem Now
5. Night of the Living Rednecks

read more HERE

The Strokes Post #228

I've never been one for drama and I am quite sick of the whole Jules debacle, so I am not going to post regularly about Phrazes for the Young anymore. in all actuality, I'll probably only post about the album when it leaks.

instead, I'm returning to the basics...that is, the greatest music ever, from the band that somehow manages to be simple and incredibly intricate...

here's a short but sweet boot--the band doing a radio session at the Beeb in 2006, including the ever-so-tasty cover of Ramones' "Life is a Gas"

1. Heart in a Cage [mp3]
it's a tad annoying that they bleep out "fucking around" but oh well
2. Life is a Gas (Ramones cover) [mp3] awesome. highly listenable. a great tribute to a phenomenal band.
3. Reptilia [mp3, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED] holy fuck this is insane(ly excellent)
4. You Only Live Once [mp3]
this is the version with lyrics from "I'll Try Anything Once", quite popular among Strokes fans

ZIP FILE (entire set)

enjoy!

Classic Track Thursday

"despite all my rage I am still just a rat in its cage"
this particular lyric reminds me of a literary-minded friend of mine who simply adores the following song. or at least he did a few years ago...

The Smashing Pumpkins - Bullet with Butterfly Wings [mp3]
from Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995)

ever since I can remember, The Smashing Pumpkins have been a refuge from the mundane for me. this particular song really resonates with me, partly because of the repetitious chorus-- which is indeed an element of a genre I don't usually appreciate--but Klosterman is right, the Pumpkins are definitely a metal band at heart. to me, though, they'll always sound more prog rock than Sigur Ros. and that's saying something.

and, of course, the song title itself is incredible. effortlessly cool, unlike some other bands' obviously less successful endeavours in the same department

BONUS:

The Smashing Pumpkins - Today
just because this song always reeked of optimism to me (not the lyrics but the guitars in particular), and that is something so incredibly intrinsic to my own sunny personality. lately, I've had loads of spats with my narrow-minded employer--the epitome of private school squareness-- but every time I meet/talk to parents of my students, they always gush about how their kids love me, and always talk about me, and I don't think I have to worry about being fired any time soon. people would probably withdraw their kids in protest...a sixth grader told me I was her favourite teacher today and I'm not even her teacher =)

viva la revolucion!

The Strokes Post #227

I'm starting to think that the "LA residency" thing was a rumour...the Tokyo gig was widely publicized, but I haven't found any info pertaining to Jules' supposed shows in LA. it doesn't make sense for him to play four nights in LA anyhow...it's not fair, methinks.

really, the only residency around here relating to Mr Casablancas is my desktop background.

what do y'all think?

(also, is anyone else pissed off that Phrazes hasn't leaked yet? at this point, I might just wait until the 20th for the proper release)