We All Want Someone To Shout For

The Arctic Monkeys drummer Matt Helders told BBC6 a little about the recording session with Queens Of The Stone Age drummer Josh Homme. Here is a snippit of the article:

“We did a few days in the desert and it was amazing,. The studio is just like a house that’s converted into a studio, but the area surrounding it; you’ve never really seen anything like it.

Before we went, he was saying that special things happen there. We were like, ‘What can he mean?’ But it really had quite an effect on us.

Speaking about how the new material sounded, Helders said that the desert environment may have added a “spaghetti western” influence. “Maybe subconsciously there’ll be some ‘spaghetti’ in there,” he said.

He said the band may return for further sessions with Homme. “We don’t know yet when he can fit it in or when we can fit it in,” he explained. “We’re gonna spend a bit of time listening to what we just did and see how we feel and what we wanna do next.”

I absolutely cannot wait to hear what comes out of those sessions. I don’t know what they are referring to with the “spaghetti western” influence, but I guess we will see. Maybe something along the lines of Muse’s ‘Knights Of Cydonia’?? If Homme can keep the dark energy found on songs like ‘If You Were There, Beware’, ‘What If You Were Right The First Time?’, ‘This House Is A Circus’. If Homme can point them in the right direction, it may be scary to hear how good their new material is.

Read the original article here: NME

[MP3] Arctic Monkeys – What If You Were Right The First Time? (ysi link 2)

Arctic Monkeys: Myspace | Website | Buy Albums: Insound | Amazon

I have been a little busy with school, so thats why I haven’t posted much. Anyhow, here are some tunes you should grab some ‘phones to and block out the world to. They are worth it. (to me at least!)

[MP3] : Of Montreal & MGMT – Smells Like Teen Spirit
Thanks to You Ain’t No Picasso for posting. This was a cover that Of Montreal did with MGMT for Of Montreal’s show in NYC the other day. Pretty neat rarity right here!

[MP3] : Andrew Bird – Oh No
Last time I gave you a stream but there is an actual mp3. The song is pretty great, with some whistles to make your day nice and cheerful! He really can make a nice medlody!

[MP3] : Keane – Spiralling
I don’t care what haters say but I love Keane. I just got my CD delivered to me here on campus thanks to amazon, and I am listening to this song as I am typing actually! I am starting to really come around to this new change. Tom’s vocals actually go along to their new style better than I originally thought. Some really cool sounds throughout the song. Album review eventually!

[MP3] : Jenny Lewis – Godspeed
I actually got an email from a teacher who thought my email was getting to Jenny Lewis for some reason, and he said that his students love to work to music and that they really enjoyed ‘Godspeed’ by Jenny Lewis. He thanked me for bringing joy to his classroom. For a second I thought my blog actually had fans but soon realized he was talking about the real superstar! Anyway, there is the track that may also help YOU work!

[MP3] : This Is Ivy League – The Richest Kids
My girlfriend played them a few times in the car for me and I remember enjoying it but never thought of looking into them more. Turns out I got an email mentioning them and was really shocked at how nice of a sound they have. Try not to just smile and enjoy ‘The Richest Kids’. Really nice melody. Thank me later.

[MP3] : Foals – Red Socks Pugie
I was listening to this on the way to class on my new headphones and boy does it sound a lot better on headphones. I really enjoy Foals style of music, and I think this song is a great example of what they do!

Buy the artists albums at their website or either Insound | Amazon

Ben Folds is a man of many talents. He can write beautiful melodies, create big hooks, and write a funny song. Sometimes all at once. However I feel that he is at his best when he has a combination of each in separate tracks. Some of my favorite Ben Folds songs are ‘Not The Same’, of the best tracks are ‘Kylie From Connecticut’ and ‘Cologne’ where he hits on relationships over some beautiful piano. These delicate moments really show Ben’s true talent. He can make a beautiful ballad. Thats for sure. But Ben is more so known for his mix of hooks and comedy. Ben has tons of fun with tracks like ‘Bitch Went Nuts’ which I dare you not to tap along at all. ‘Hiroshima (B B B Benny Hit His Head)’ discusses Ben’s fall on stage at a show at Hiroshima which only Ben could make fun of himself over a catchy chorus. It is the type of song you have come to adore from Ben. It has a great beat, and a big hook that draws you in. ‘Dr. Yang’ is one of the more experimental tracks on the album with Ben putting his voice at an unusual register. The track has a lot of energy and even though it may not go where you hoped, it provides an interesting listen.

The standout track is Ben’s duet with the wonderful Regina Spektor on ‘You Don’t Know Me’. This is one of Ben’s best work recently, which many relationships can relate to. The best moments for Ben are usually when he combine’s his sense of humor with this soft tender side. Such as in ‘Effington’ which talks about a lonely town, but in Ben fashion. “If there’s a god/he’s laughing at us/And our football team.”. The track has all of the components of a good Ben Folds song, and he really hit a homerun with ‘Effington.’ It is quite an enjoyable song!

Howeved the album doesn’t quite always reach its potential. Songs like ‘Errant Dog’ and ‘Free Coffee’ don’t seem to reach the heights Ben was going for. Those songs lacked a serious component. ‘The Frown Song’ is killed by some random/dumb lyrics about “Fucking The guru”. Things like that just kill songs for me. I just didn’t get too much out of them. Ben can really make some beautiful ballads, I think if he can find a good balance between ballads and fast paced pop songs he will get back to where he wants to be. This album has some really beautiful songs mixed in with some songs that Ben probably had fun doing, but didn’t turn up as good as he hoped. They do sound better live at least…

All in all this is not as bad of an album as critics are saying. You got some classic Ben ballads, some goofy upbeat tunes, what else can you ask for. I will say one thing, the album definitely gets better over time. So don’t give up on it yet, somethings aren’t as normal as they used to be! Ben is one of the most talented piano players making music at the moment. There is a lot of good stuff there, just you may have to decide which of his styles is more for you! Ben is an amazing performer live, and if you really want a full appreciate of him, go see him live!!

Rating: 7.0

(Bold = Top track picks)

Hiroshima (B B B Benny Hits His Head) – 3.5
Dr. Yang – 3.25
The Frown Song – 2.75
You Don’t Know Me (feat. Regina Spektor) – 5
Before Cologne – N/A
Cologne – 4.5
Errant Dog – 2.5
Free Coffee – 2
Bitch Went Nuts – 3.75
Brainwascht – 2.75
Effington – 4.5
Kylie from Connecticut – 4.25

[MP3] : Ben Folds – You Don’t Know Me (Feat. Regina Spektor)
[MP3] : Ben Folds – Effington

Purchase Way To Normal: Insound | Amazon

Myspace

(photos thanks to Pitchfork)

Yeah that rhymed. So at Diesel’s XXX party last Saturday, it was discovered that M.I.A. is actually pregnant, which may answer peoples question towards her “retirement.” It has been a busy month for her, with ‘Paper Planes’ being on itunes top 10, and now with her pregnancy who knows what M.I.A.’s future music plans are. I think with ‘Paper Planes’ success and now her pregnancy M.I.A. we can definitely expect some future music from her, despite what she wants us to think. Or at least I hope so!

[MP3] : M.I.A. – Boyz (Remix Feat. Jay-Z)
[MP3] : M.I.A. – Paper Planes (DFA Remix)

Animal Collective have told the world that their new album is called ‘Merriweather Post Pavilion’ and it will be released January 29th, 2009. It was recorded in the same studio that The Walkmen record in (Sweet Tea Studios in Oxford, Mississippi). They also told us the track listing:

1. “In The Flowers”
2. “My Girls”
3. “Also Frightened”
4. “Summertime Clothes”
5. “Daily Routine”
6. “Bluish”
7. “Guys Eyes”
8. “Taste”
9. “Lion In A Coma”
10. “No More Runnin”
11. “Brothersport”

It took me a while to get into them, but I can see now why they are so highly regarded. I am pumped for this!

-thanks to GorillavsBear for posting the album info!

[MP3] : Animal Collective – Water Curses

Purchase Animal Collective LP’s!!: Insound | Amazon

Myspace

Not much going on really in the music world. Here are some songs that you may or may not have missed in the past year or so. Either way, these are songs that for some reason are coming back to me and demanding repeated listens. Some are more recent. In other words, just enjoy:

[MP3] : Pantha Du Prince – Saturn Strobe
-I believe pitchfork included this on their best songs of ’07 and rightfully so. This is a haunting track, and he doesn’t even need to speak. This is some dark beautiful stuff. Exceptionally great work!!

[MP3] : Panda Bear – Comfy In Nautica
-One of the best tracks of last year, but I stopped listening to it since I saw Animal Collective at All Points West. The track was played before Franz Ferdinand’s set and it reminded me of how great it truly is. It hasn’t left my head since.

[MP3] : Panda Bear – Boneless (Notwist Remix) – thanks to Pretty Much Amazing , a very cool remix on The Notwist’s Boneless.

[MP3] : Muscles – Sweaty
Just awesome

this turned out to be more electronic/dance oriented than I wanted it to be, but so be it.

So the night had finally arrived. Two big acts. One of the acts just hit in big recently, and their popularity is growing with each passing day. The other is a seasoned vet who has been making music for well over a decade. Say hello to MGMT and Beck! At the United Palace Theater on October 9th these acts came together (as they did on October 8th, and will October 10th). Boy is the venue a beauty. I haven’t been there since I saw Bloc Party last March. It really is a pretty place to see a gig, just being there is an experience.

MGMT came on right away kicking off with the epic and very long ‘Metanoia’. The song sounded quite psychadelic live but it defenitly wore out its welcome after a while. They then hit into many of the familar tracks from their only album ‘Oracular Spectacular’. ‘Electric Feel’ and ‘Time To Pretend’ got big receptions and were quite enjoyable. They ran through ‘Weekend Wars’, ‘The Youth’, ‘Pieces Of What’ pretty well. Their performances live are defenitly more progresive rock and jammy than what you get on the record. Stripped down, I felt their performances were great. Their drummer’s playing was a lot more noticeable live. My only complaint was they didn’t play my favortie song ‘Kids.’ I wasn’t alone either, I heard numerous calls for it. I could have done without the oh too long ‘Metanoia’, if that meant ‘Kids’ got in there. What can you do?

Beck came on right on time, which is a rarity these days for an artist to come on stage on time. He played ‘Loser’ right away pretty much giving a statement that it isn’t one of his favorites to play anymore. He then went into about 5 songs from his recent albums that included ‘Nausea’, ‘Girl’ and the great ‘Timebomb’. He then went further back to his ‘Odelay’ and ‘Midnite Vultures’ days with the great ‘Minus’, ‘Mixed Bizness’ and ‘Nicotine & Gravy’ (which may be my favorite Beck song right now). Beck quickly got through the songs, one after another. He kept to himself not interacting with the crowd beside a few hellos and how you doing? I didn’t mind this at all, you could tell Beck just wanted to keep chugging away. Beck rocked the fan favorite ‘Devil’s Haircut’ and the crowd rocked it right back. After the enjoyable ‘I Think I’m In Love’ Beck paved the way for tracks from his new album ‘Modern Guilt’. I am a big fan of the album, I think it’s one of the steadiest albums this year. Songs like ‘Modern Guilt’, ‘Chemtrails’, and ‘Walls’ really worked well live with some more soul. I really like the atmosphere that the Modern Guilt songs provide.

After a fun rendition of ‘Where It’s At’, Beck left for a few minutes only to reutrn right away to get through his encore. It featured the standout ‘Gamma Ray’, a new song, and the awesome
‘E-Pro’. It may not be Beck’s best song, but if you were a newcomer to Beck last night, you may have thought it was after seeing the crowd reaction. You could hear the nah nah’s as you were leaving the beautiful Palace.

I didn’t need Beck to intereact with me to enjoy the show. Beck did his job well, and if he wants to just play right through the show, so be it. The songs were great, and I had a good time. That is what matters. MGMT provided a good start to the night, and Beck just being Beck made it even better.

photos, vids, setlist below:

Setlist:

Loser
Nausea
Girl
Timebomb
Minus
Soul of a Man
Mixed Bizness
Nicotine & Gravy
Que Onda Guero
Ghettochip Malfunction/Shake Shake Tambourine/Clap Hands
Devils Hai
Think I’m in Love
Modern Guilt
Orphans
Walls
Missing
Chemtrails
Golden Age
Lost Cause
Where It’s At

Encore:
Gamma Ray
Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat
new song
E-Pro

Beck – Gamma Ray:

MGMT – Electric Feel

[MP3] : Beck – Walls

[MP3] : MGMT – Weekend Wars

I woke up this morning and my cold got worse. I sure didn’t let it get me down last night seeing Franz Ferdinand, and I will most definitely not let it ruin me seeing Beck/MGMT at United Palace Theater tonight. Beck is just one of the many artists that are on my list to see, and it is a bonus to get to see MGMT, one of the most talked about bands in 2008 playing alongside with Mr. Hansen. Look out for a review tonight/early tomorrow!

I have been pretty busy lately so here are some of the things that I am enjoying, plus some Franz, Beck, and MGMT appropriately so.

[MP3] : Beck – Chemtrails
[MP3] : MGMT – Time To Pretend
[MP3] : Vampire Weekend – Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa (Teenagers Remix)
[MP3] : The Decemberists – Valerie Plame
[MP3] : Antony & The Johnsons – Shake That Devil

Franz Ferdinand was one of the first bands to really get me into music. ‘Take Me Out’ got my attention, but once I got their self titled debut album, they became one of the most important bands to me. After them I diverged into many other bands. It is well over 4 years since it came out, and I just got around to seeing them live. Let’s just say it was well worth the wait!

Opening band was Cause Co-motion who were pretty cool, but the crowd was eagerly waiting for the boys from Glasgow, Scotland to come out and rock. After a long 40 minute wait they came out with a brand new track called Bite Hard. It is a starts out mellow but turns into a pretty sweet song. Lead singer Alex Kapranos announced is titled “Tonight” and is being mastered. They then played the ever so familar ‘Michael” and “Tell Her Tonight’ before playing another new song called ‘Turn It On’ which is another great song featuring some wonderful guitar work and synths. They then hit their stride with classic ‘The Dark Of The Matinee’ followed with new song ‘Send Him Away’ which sounds like everything you want in a Franz songs. Hooks, chorus, good backing vocals, and jams.

Other new songs that they played were ‘Katherine Kiss Me’ which could make a run for their first single and Ulysses which talks about getting high, with lush synths paving the way. Listening to ‘Take Me Out’ is one of the best moments of this year for me. That was a long time coming. They rocked out ‘The Fallen’ and ’40 Feet’ inbetween the new songs for all who don’t track down youtube for their live performances. The last song before the encore was another new track called ‘What She Came For.’ This was the standout track out of all the new songs for me, without a doubt. It builds and builds eventually exploding into an amazing jam freakout that seemed ever so familar. I felt like I heard it before! It was because I did. You may have to. The jam was the video that they recorded and posted online titled “Under The Stage”. The crowd really got into this song, and rightfully so. It pulled you in and didn’t let go! I recorded the song’s audio online. A security guard told me literally “to put that shit away or I will take you and it away” when I attempted to record a video. Nice fella. But check out the audio below!!

The encore featured the underrated ‘Outsiders’ that featured all the band members and a sound man banging away at the drums by the songs end. Pretty neat. The show had to end soon, and they did it quite well with ‘This Fire’. Franz Ferdinand had us by their grasp and they sure didn’t let go. The crowd went wild for this song and you truly realized how great Franz Ferdinand is. Sure we all know ‘Take Me Out’ was one of the biggest songs of this decade. But when you really think about it they have not done anything bad. They got 2 albums that are highly regarded with fans and critics. If the rest of “Tonight” sounds as good as the new songs did, they will be taking over the world. They put on one of the best shows of the year, I would pay to see them again in a heartbeat!

Photo’s, audio and setlist below:

[MP3] : Franz Ferdinand – What She Came For (Live, Brooklyn 10-8-08) - new song

Setlist:
Bite Hard (new song)
Michael
Tell Her Tonight
Turn It On (new song)
The Dark Of The Matinee
Send Him Away (new song)
The Fallen
Katherine Kiss Me (new song)
Take Me Out
Ulysses (new song)
40 Feet
What She Came For (new song)

Encore:
A New Thrill (thanks for the tip SoundBites)
Outsiders
This Fire

Colin Meloy is back! No, not another live album. I meant back to his rightful place with The Decemberists! The song is just what you hoped to get from the Decemberists. Colin Meloy’s ever so familar voice, horns, hooks, big chorus’s (A Valerie Plame chorus that you may find quite familar (HEY VALERIE PLAMEEEE). Typical things that you would expect from these folk experts.

This brand new song is featured on one of the Decemberists new singles that they are releasing as a 3 part series titled “Always The Bridesmaid”. This one features ‘Valerie Plame’ and ‘O New England’ and will be released on October 14th.

If you want to support the great Decemberists Preorder the whole series!

**I just read this in the Decemberists newsletter:

In other news, we’ve officially closed the book on tracking our next record and mixing starts tomorrow! We’re all tremendously pleased with the outcome thus far. It’s called “Hazards of Love.” That’s all we’ll say now.

Now we got an album to look forward to!

[MP3] : The Decemberists – Valerie Plame

Preorder The “Always The Bridesmaid” Single Series | Myspace