We All Want Someone To Shout For

We All Want Someone To Shout for was started on googles free blog program blogger. It is free, easy to use, and a program that has gotten tons of great blogs out there. As a result of blogger and the blogs, many artists have seen an increase in popularity. However, recently blogger has become one of the most restricting programs for a music blogger to use. Confused? Well blogger has been removing posts from honest music bloggers like the wounderful Muruch causing her to actually move her blog losing tons of traffic, which she is still rebuilding! These type of actions are just completely unjust. I mean most blogs like Murch get permision from the label, the promotion company, and sometimes even the artists themselves. Yet the “big” guys with those suits are having google take town the posts.

This is why I left blogger in december and joined wordpress in january. I am not self hosted and in control of my blog. No one should have the right to just take town someones post without any warning. A group of bloggers felt the same way and responded in a very thoguhtful way. After seeing a post on Paul Haig get taken down from the vinyl villian , even after Paul himself gave it the ok, many bloggers such as Matt from Song, By Toad and Sean from Battery In Your Leg gathered together to post a Paul Haig song on April 6th in order to make a point that what these people are doing is wrong.

Hopefully with more movements from bloggers like this, the nonsense that these heavyweights are doing will finally end. Bloggers are out there doing free pr work, we love music. These major label companies and laws are targeting the wrong guys. So even though the paul haig day has passed, keep the movement going. If you are a blogger make a short post. Lets keep music blogs alive and well!

[mp3] : Paul Haig – Reason

That is a good way to express how my spring break has been so far….If I were a bro! No but really, I don’t even know if I could handle a spring break that looked like a episode of TRL. A beach does sound fucking excellent right now though!

Here I am sitting in my room with The Knife’s masterful 2006 album “Silent Shout” blasting. I am nearing the end of my spring break and I am not too pleased about that. Don’t get me wrong, I am enjoying my 2nd semester of college. However, I do miss certain aspects of being home and I always find that this breaks zoom by. I had a really long 2nd semester and feel that it has…overstayed its welcome? I wanna get a job and just make some money already. I’m tired of being broke!!!!! MOG isn’t helping me out either, it is my only source of income at the moment and I aint doing to well on that end.

While ranting I realized that this is a music blog, not someone’s fucking xanga. So I will end here and just post some music that I have been rocking with the speakers and bass cranked past acceptable levels all day. ALL DAY

[mp3] : The Spinto Band – Later On

[mp3] : Arctic Monkeys – No Buses

[mp3] : The Beatles – Here Comes The Sun

[mp3] : Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – In This Home On Ice

[mp3] : The Shins – A Comet Appears

[mp3] : Oasis – The Masterplan

You may be surprised but I am a huge U2 fan. I don’t blog about them all too much, but well what the hell am I going to do to help a band that is bigger than life itself? I need their help more than they need mine! Scary thoughts huh?

Those bad asses known as Justice took the Irish bands single (wrong choice by far, when looking at the whole album) “Get On Your Boots”. The remix is worth a listen for sure. Put together one of the mightest forces in rock and in electronic/dance, and you got a tasty delight that will make all of those hypemachine hearts go red.

[mp3] : U2 – Get On Your Boots (Justice Remix)

Last nights episode of South Park was pretty hysterical, and the Kanye scene at the end only topped it off. I love Knaye and all, but I gotta say they really went all out on this one. Classic!!! Watch a clip from the episode which also pokes fun at his auto-tuner:

Kanye already blogged his response to this, and actually took it really well. In his post he actually admits he does need to change a bit. Classy Kanye!

[mp3] : Kanye West, Kid Cudi, and Common – I Poke Her Face

[mp3] : Kanye West – Stronger

Vancouver based Japandroids are the perfect example of garage rock done right. I mentioned this a little less than a month back here. Well I have had the chance to hear their entire debut album “Post-Nothing” and these fellas are legit. The album absolutely kills. The band is full of energy, never taking a break once. Their sound while containing plenty of noise is still drenched in melody and catchy riffs. If you had to compare a band, it would have to be No Age.

The vocals are mixed in perfectly with all the noisy guitar riffs and drums, a problem that I find in many lo-fi type bands. The album kicks off to a mammoth start with “The Boys Are Leaving Town” and “Young Hearts Spark Fire”, a one-two album opening punch that is just outstanding. “Heart Sweats” sounds like it could have been the perfect sibling to a Death From Above 1979 song. The thing that drives this album is the powerful combination of Brian and Dave working together to produce a well mannered album. Not all the songs are fronted with loud vocals. “Crazy/Forever” keeps the same garage sound but over quieter vocals. Japandroids kick the album back into rock hard mode right after that ending the album very strong. If you listen to the closing song “I Quit Girls” carefully enough you may be reminded of the guitar riff that is in Arcade Fires “Wake Up.” Well, if the AF’s version had a bit more distortion!!

“Post-Nothing” is a brief 35 minutes, but believe me when I tell you that they use every second wisely. The album is very consistent and even, with no filler.  I would not be surprised if this album got glowing reviews from reviewers (pitchfork should play nice to these boys) and continued support from music blogs. These guys have released one of my favorite albums of 2009, a year which has seen many great releases!

[mp3] : Japandroids – Young Hearts Spark Fire

[mp3] : Japandroids – Heart Sweats

Buy the album from insound | Visit them at myspace

The boys from Harlem Shakes have been busy touring in order to support their debut album “Technicolor Health”. They made room in their schedule to answer some questions I had. Specifically Kendrick helped answer the questions on behalf of the band! Thanks again Kendrick! (and thank you Jose for communicating with me!).

I am still new on conducting interviews. I have done it via email, so that should explain why there isn’t any “conversing” going on here. But overall I thought it went well! Well, here we go:

WAWSTSF: What is the background of the name Harlem Shakes?
Kendrick: It’s got a catchy sound and an eery underpinning, sort of like our hearts.

WAWSTSF: What major influences made you go out and make music/influenced your songs?

Kendrick: We each have about 10 bands that we can name that we feel influenced the songs (Randy Newman, Cee-Lo, Van Morrison, The Allman Brothers, Blur, The Byrds, etc.). However, I think it’s more honest to admit a deeper outpouring came from 90s songs we grew up listening to, 70s songs we grew up listening to our parents listening to, and hip hop and reggaeton music thumping from thin-windowed cars and blown-out boomboxes that we can’t help but listen to walking down the street in New York that we had little conscious control over.

WAWSTSF: Tell me about the recording process for your guys debut album “Technicolor Health”?

Kendrick: This is the first recording we really poured ourselves into, the first one where we fought entropy to make the feelings come from the sounds, not just the sounds come from the feelings. Our producer Chris Zane was a big part of this record, being patient enough to let us make 1000 misteps along the way to falling in love with the product. There’s a lot of love and optimism in response to some difficult circumstances that went into this record.

WAWSTSF: What is your favorite song that you have written so far?

Kendrick: My favorite song is Natural Man. We can’t even rehearse the darn thing more than once a practice because it saps all the serotonin from our collective brain. It’s like the tylenol with the “e” on it that we see happy people take at dance parties. Also, it mentions both Zima and 1998, which are two of my favorite people.

WAWSTSF: What are your expectations for the album? Do critics reviews such as pitchfork go through your mind when your making music?

Kendrick: Didn’t a man once ask some old-timey guy if the bird in his hand was alive or dead, knowing he could squeeze the little guy and make a fool out of him no matter what he said? It’ll do well? It’ll do poorly? I love Pitchfork? I hate Pitchfork? I hope people will find that it admits its time and place but it’s also walking uphill anyway. I hope people will react to its constructive escapism, or rather, its bright realism. But, you know, I can imagine people disliking it, which I respect. That’s an opportunity to learn and discuss, which I think is just as important as praise.*

*We reserve full rights to prank call anyone who openly says anything but awesome stuff about our record.

WAWSTSF: I saw you toured with big named artists such as Arctic Monkeys, Deerhoof, and Vampire Weekend. What was that like? Have any funny/interesting stories?

Kendrick: We’ve learned so much from the bands we’ve toured with. Can I say Thank You to them here? Deerhoof was like the magic-trick-wielding uncle who always made us laugh. They were our first tour and will probably always be our favorite. They showed us how being respectful and receptive can coincide with being inventive and subversive. The Arctic Monkeys made us nostalgic for being a couple years younger, Vampire Weekend are friends that we consider all-around pros who pushed us artistically, Tokyo police Club surpassed Wolverine as the #1 reason to love Canada, and Tapes n’ Tapes made us love video games again! Oh, and what’s UUUUUP, Ladyhawk, Caural, Busdriver, and Ruby Coast!

WAWSTSF: What is your opinion on blogs and the way artists are found now days?

Kendrick: Opening the discussion as wide as possible is always a good thing. More ideas! There’s a lot of excellent music that wouldn’t have been heard that’s being heard all around the world, which is rad, but there are a lot of false starts and flip-flops that the blog diffusion created. It’s hard getting used to “authority” being spread out, so there are some hiccups along the way with people jockeying for authority, judging who has creedence, etc. All the crazies are allowed into the room, which I like. But I think I might be a crazy, so I’m biased.  Squirrels!

WAWSTSF: What records are you guys spinning right now?

Kendrick: Here We Go Magic, Shilpa Ray and her Happy Hookers, Born Ruffians, Passion Pit, Titus Andronicus, Suckers, Arms, Air Waves, Phoenix, Dawn Landes, and Harry Belafonte.

[mp3] : Harlem Shakes – Natural Man

[mp3] : Harlem Shakes – Niagara Falls

Franz Ferdinand joined the likes of Lily Allen with a cover of Britneys hit song “Womanizer” at BBC’s Live Lounge. The cover is nothing spectacular but rather simple and fun. Franz Ferdinand make everything seem so easy. Here they don’t have to really try though..

Here is the video of them performing it in the BBC Studio, as well as a mp3 below:

[mp3] : Franz Ferdinand – Womanizer (Britney Spears Cover)

omg am I really going to post the original? ummmm…..yeah about that….:

[mp3] : Britney Spears – Womanizer

Don’t worry, this will be the last time you ever see a mp3 of Brit around these parts. Guess we can’t all be hipsters all the time. But we can try!

Hey guys, well Luis asked me to do another post for our Arctic Monkeys B-Sides & Rarities Project over at PMA. If you recall this is my 2nd post at PMA for this project. The first was for the Arctic Monkeys fan favorite demo Choo Choo. Now I introduced a rare cover of Rod McKuens lovely song The Lovers that the boys from Sheffield did.

I figured this would be a good way to get a lesser known cover (as opposed to their Love Machine, Strokes, and Amy Whinehouse covers) to a wider audience. I could have just posted it here but then again PMA has an audience probably 10 times my size. So yea anyway go over there read the post, and I will bring more Arctic goodness to you soon.

[mp3] : Arctic Monkeys – The Lovers (Rod McKuen Cover)

Ah, the first new music release day of April. Things are starting to really pick up with spring arriving. This week is a bit more low-key but the quality is very good in my opinion. Check these bad boys (and one girl) out!:

Bat For Lashes – Two Suns

Bat For Lashes sophomore album “Two Suns” leaked long ago and it has gotten plenty of love. Has this buzz allowed Bat For Lashes to get out to more people, or her new album been forgotten by the quick listening ears of music “fans” of today? Well it seems like they are very aware of her presence with tracks like “Daniel” that have the likes of Pitchfork raving.

[mp3] : Bat For Lashes – Daniel

Black Dice – Repo

Black Dice, the trio from Brooklyn. They’re genre is experimental electronica.They are signed to DFA so you know that there is plenty of talent. But when I say experimental electronica, I ain’t kidding. You may need to be on some kind of drugs to enhance this experience:

[mp3] : Black Dice – Glazin

Crystal Antlers – Tentacles

Crystal Antlers are one of the many Crystal/Antler band names that have spewed out of the music scene over the last few years. These fellas are from Cali and finally released their anticipated debut album Tentacles. Their sound consists of many different styles and sounds. If anything this may be one of the more interesting releases of the week. “Andrew” is undeniably cool. Give it a lick:

[mp3] : Crystal Antlers – Andrew

Doves – Kingdom Of Rust

Ah, the most under-appreciated band from England. Why do so many people fail to see the breathtaking music that these 3 lads produce album, after album? After a few listens I can safely tell you that they have done it again. These boys know what a melody is.

[mp3] : Doves – 10.03

Purchase Here

The Hold Steady – A Positive Rage

This two disc CD/DVD has 17 live tracks plus a documentary on the band. The Craig Finn fronted band has really come a long way since “Almost Killed Me”. The band is supposed to be one of the best live acts out there, so I am sure this is worth a listen.

[mp3] : The Hold Steady – Atlantic City (Bruce Springsteen Cover)

Junior Boys – Begone Dull Care

I didn’t even know until I made this post that the Junior Boys had a new album coming out. This is the Canadian electronic duo’s 3rd album. Their sound is really chill, I will have to give this a try. This one went really under the radar, hopefully it can be one of 2009′s surprising threats!I got an mp3 of the first track below for you. Those vocals are such a perfect fit for the beat, it is almost scary!

[mp3] : Junior Boys – Parallel Lines

The Thermals – Now We Can See

It’s almost hard to believe that it has been 3 years since “The Body, the Blood, the Machine” came out! While “Now We Can See” is not quite up to the same level it is still a good album. They still have their ability to write catchy songs over their garage/lo-fi sound. They have one of the more recognizable sounds in indie rock today. Try not to sing those chants in the self titled track. Oh way oooh oooh oooh!

[mp3] : The Thermals – Now We Can See

Woah woah new Slim Shady? My friend Rogo from It’s A Rap sent me an im at 3:30 AM (Even I don’t know why I am awake) letting me know that Eminem’s new single from his upcoming album “Relapse” is out. “We Made You” is the name of this first track.

My thoughts on the track are mixed. I really do miss Eminem’s old delivery, I feel like at times his rapping sounds like a joke. This is one of the things that bothered me on “Encore”. However the beat is pretty solid overall, with a very infectious piano looped in. I will give Em credit, the single is a lot better than I expected. I know Eminem still has that greatness hidden down there somewhere, hopefully the rest of the album will bring back his gold.

Overall, it is good to hear Marshall back. He is one of the few rappers that I always have enjoyed. My expectations are pretty low for the new album, but I am hoping he will shock me and spit out a new classic. Rap needs the real slim shady back.

[mp3] : Eminem – We Made You