As your local former Ser Biz intern, it is my duty to inform you that disbanded as of I-don't-remember-when SBR band Man In Gray are back with a one-show reunion at Union Hall on 20 Feb. :
There's some other Business going on (upcoming shows and records) that I haven't quite caught up on, so you'll have to wait for that. In the meantime, feel free to download SBR's annual free compilation of last year's releases and hits, The Year In Business : 2009.
Tracklisting :
1) SAADI - "Bad City (Serious Business Remix)" 2) The Two Man Gentlemen Band - "Me, I Get High on Reefer" (live) 3) The Paparazzi - "The Rococo Tape" 4) The Octagon - "Suicide Kings" 5) Higgins - "What Don't You Want?" 6) Jack and the Pulpits - "Francypants" 7) Rocketship Park - "Spinning Globes" 8) Benji Cossa - "Annie Delia" 9) The Unsacred Hearts - "Fake Kisses" 10) The Two Man Gentlemen Band - "Drip Dryin'(Reprise!)"
I started listening to Kasabian during my junior year of college when I got hooked on their sophomore effort, Empire - okay, that's not entirely true. I got hooked on the singles "Empire" and "Shoot The Runner" (still a great video), while the rest of it just became a vague jumble of Britrock in my mind. The mental association is so strong it still makes me think of running around rue Gay Lussac and trying to get my Sorbonne classes sorted.
So, I guess it took them a long time to get it together, but on 8th June, they'll be releasing their much-delayed third record, The West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum. First single, "Vlad the Impaler," was (until recently) available for free download via the band's site. Not that you should let that stop you from finding it, because it's...well. Watch the video :
I think "fucking good" was the adjective I was looking for. Also aptly describes that video cum mini-grindhouse horror flick. (And yes, that's Noel Fielding.) Says the band on WRPLA,
"The album was inspired by movies like (Alejandro Jodorowksy's) Holy Mountain," says Serge. "It's the soundtrack to an imaginary movie. We want to encourage people to listen to it as whole. At the moment people are being encouraged to pay seventy nine pence to download one song, and I think that really underestimates what genuine music fans want to listen to. We wanted to make an album which takes the listener on a journey."
Those are sentiments I can get behind.
The band also just unveiled the second single, "Fire," which you can hear over here.
I wrote about Rodeo Massacre some time ago (read: a year ago), and a lot of stuff has happened in between then and now, including but not limited to losing a bassist and releasing a new 7" single released on 2nd March, "Same Old Story" / "Sundance Kid" (pictured above). You can hear both songs on their 'Space, but if you purchase a t-shirt from the band, you can get the mp3s for free, too.
The also just posted another new song, "The Big Smoke," which apparently has to do with illness and London, where the band is currently continuing work on their next record :
After a long sleep in yesterday I went to Zorba's house to finish the vocal takes of a new song called the Big Smoke that I wrote during the 2 weeks that I was knocked out in bed and sick after Christmas. Because I was so terribly sick when we started to record the song almost all the vocal takes were made with me singing lying down on a sofa with Zorba leaning over me with the mic stand. Pretty funny view!
After 3 cures of antibiotics this winter and a loss of 5 kg I suddenly found myself so week that I had to stay at Zorba's in order for him to take care of me and we both felt at that time that London is a very hard town to live in. At the Same moment Ulf calls up to tell us that he got beaten up in his neighborhood on his way home and we felt we had to write a song about all this.
The song is called "The Big Smoke" which is a way of calling London since the late 19th century and when I moved here I had a friend who would always call London the big smoke so it felt like a natural tittle of the song.
Hope you enjoy it. Love Izzy
Sounds like fun.
ETA : I would give you a download for "The Big Smoke" or "Same Old Story," but I can't seem to get them onto my machine. So you'll have to fend for yourselves this time.
You may have needed a $700 billion bailout, Wall Street, but Serious Business Records is having the Best Year Ever!
Okay, yeah, that's a lame joke. Sorry.
But up for free download from now until forever is Ser Biz's annual year-end compilation record, The Year In Business: 2008, packed with 2008's biggest tracks from the NY-based label.
Tracklist:
1. Rocketship Park - "Because (Two Candles)" from Off and Away 2. The Two Man Gentlemen Band - "Dippin' Sauce" from Heavy Petting 3. Benji Cossa - Volcano from the Benji Cossa and the Tightens LP 4. Looker - "Gates of the Old City" from Born in the Desert 5. Higgins - "Charly" from Zs 6. Secret Dakota Ring - "The Fade to Black" from Cantarell 7. Jack and the Pulpits - "Dance Area" from Jack and the Pulpits EP 8. The Homosexuals - "Slow Guns" from Love Guns? 10" EP 9. The Unsacred Hearts - "Where Are You" from forthcoming second Hearts album, The Honor Bar 10. The Two Man Gentlemen Band - "The Rabbit Foot Stomp" from the forthcoming fourth full-length Gents record, Drip Dryin' with the Two Man Gentlemen Band(out on 14th January) 11. Benji Cossa - "April" from Benji Cossa's Vault Vol. 2: Jewels and Gems 12. Higgins - "Make a Mistake" from Trust in Higgins Vol. 1 13. Jack and the Pulpits - "Show Off" from forthcoming 2nd JatP EP, a prequel to their first 14. Boshra al Saadi - "Daddy You Been On My Mind" unreleased Bob Dylan cover recorded in the men's room at Serious Business, 1st December 2008 15. Rocketship Park - "Seasons" from Off and Away
The whole compilation is FREE and up for download as a .Zip here. If you feel like donating a few dollars to Ser Biz, they'll send you a CD copy, too.
.....
I'ma probably do some sort of 2008-in-pictures-I-took-concerts post sometime soon, too. I know you're all just dying to read that...evs.
Um, regardless, I am SO EXCITED about Stuck In The Sound's sophomore album, Shoegazing Kids, which drops 26th January, along with a France-wide tour to go with it.
23 Jan 2009 - L’EMB - Sannois 29 Jan 2009 - La Maroquinerie - Paris * 30 Jan 2009 - Le Chabada - Angers 31 Jan 2009 - L’Ephémère - Vannes 6 Feb 2009 - Le Normandy - Saint-Lo 7 Feb 2009 - L’Abordage - Evreux 13 Feb 2009 - Le Grand Mix - Tourcoing 14 Feb 2009 - Le Plan - Ris-orangis ^ 20 Feb 2009 - La Lune des pirates - Amiens * 21 Feb 2009 - La Manekine - Pont Sainte Maxence 27 Feb 2009 - le Fuzz’Yon - La roche sur Yon 28 Feb 2009 - Arcade / Tremore - Notre Dame de Gravenchon * 4 Mar 2009 - L’Ubu - Rennes ^ 5 Mar 2009 - Barbey - Bordeaux ^ 6 Mar 2009 - Victoire 2 + Adam Kesher ^ 7 Mar 2009 - Le Phare - Toulouse ^ 11 Mar 2009 - La Luciole - Alençon 12 Mar 2009 - L’Olympic - Nantes ^ 13 Mar 2009 - Chato’do - Blois ^ 14 Mar 2009 - Espace Culturel Leclerc - Niort ^ 17 Mar 2009 - Les Grands Marais - Riorges 18 Mar 2009 - La Vapeur - Dijon 19 Mar 2009 - Ninkasi Kao - Lyon ^ 20 Mar 2009 - Salle Le Bournot - Aubenas ^ 21 Mar 2009 - El Mediator - Perpignan # 26 Mar 2009 - Festival Chorus - Chatenay-malabry 27 Mar 2009 - Les Trinitaires - Metz 28 Mar 2009 - La Cartonnerie - Reims ^ 3 Apr 2009 - Cooperative de Mai - Clermont-Ferrand 4 Apr 2009 - Festival Garorock - Marmande 10 Apr 2009 - L’Empreinte - Savigny le temple 11 Apr 2009 - Run Ar Puns - Chateaulin * with I am un chien ^ with Adam Kesher # with Music Is Not Fun
Right now, les gars have two new singles, "Shoot Shoot" and "Ouais" ("Yeah," for the uninitiated), up on their 'Space. Oh, they did a teaser for "Ouais," too (yeah, seriously):
Tonight, 6th December Middle East upstairs, Cambridge, MA 18+ $10 9 pm doors Also starring the other bands mentioned above.
It would be remiss of me not to mention my friend's show, so there you go. I'm just impressed with the cartoon!Brendan.
I may or may not be in attendance, according to my mood and willingness to drive a lot tomorrow. I'm also a little wary of cartoon!Brendan's advice to buy his record as the last time I bought a CD from him, I left the damn thing on the merch table and ran out of the Middle East without it. Such is my life.
The hard copies of our new EP, Loose Ends, just arrived in the mail! The record is officially out on DEC 16th (with digital versions somewhat secretly available right now). You’ll be able to get your hands on a copy in person at a big blow out party we’re having at MERCURY LOUNGE on Wednesday, DEC. 17th with The Bon Savants and label mates Ford & Fitzroy (who, btw, just released their own record yesterday). You know you can’t wait!
I stumbled upon Up the Empire sometime in early '06 and I thought they'd split up since then and I was sad, but no! They are back with a new EP and a record release party to go along with it. It drops officially on the 16th (as detailed above), but you can buy it off of iTunes right now or just stream it off their 'Space.
Up The Empire - Volcano (off Light Rides The Super Major LP)
And they're playing that release show with the Bon fucking Savants, which, omg I'm fucking psyched no srsly. Have you heard "Between the Moon and the Ocean"? Because if you haven't, you need to rectify that right now.
The main reason for this is that I suffered from a stroke in June and unfortunately I do not know when / if I will be well enough to play guitar again.
On behalf of the band I'd like to say a big thank you to anyone who ever came to one of our shows, bought one of our records or danced to one of our songs in a club. Thank you, if it wasn't for you the whole thing would have been pointless.
Finally on a personal note, thanks for all your well wishing messages.
Dorian xxx
Um. I'm pretty sure that means the entire band is splitting up, though maybe Dorian's just leaving and they've decided they're not really the Long Blondes without him anymore....?
I hope the poor guy gets better.
Also, GRR! Seriously, 2008? Epic fail on the "bands staying together" front.
In other news, the Long Blondes are releasing "Singles" today, which is a compilation of their pre-Rough Trade singles, A-sides, B-sides, and bonus tracks. (Get it? "Couples" and "Singles"? Clever clever.) It includes the following tracks:
"New Idols" "Long Blonde" "Autonomy Boy" "Giddy Stratospheres" "Polly" "Darts" "Appropriation (By Any Other Name)" "My Heart Is Out Of Bounds" "Lust In The Movies" "Separated By Motorways" (alternative version) "Big Infatuation" "Peterborough"
I love Andy Ross' solo project, Secret Dakota Ring. Love love love. His debut LP, Do Not Leave Baggage All The Way is one of those records for me. One that I've been listening to, on and off, for what feels like ages, and yet I still find new layers and intricacies that I've never heard before each time I go back to it, and find that I appreciate it more and more as time goes on.
Mr. Ross has been working on a follow-up to Baggage for a while now, the nine-track Cantarell, and it'll be out sometime in October or November. Meanwhile, lead single "The Fade To Black," has finally been unveiled. I heard this song for the first time several months ago and it blew my mind. Really. It did. And now it's gone and lodged itself in my head and will not give up. It's a brilliant powerpop song that's peppy but not overly-so, joyful and joyous and loaded with tambourine and handclaps, but is never twee or saccharine. Pop songs like that, that make you want to dance but don't make you scrunch your nose at the silly lyrics that just don't work, can be a little hard to come by.
Oh, and Secret Dakota Ring (being Andy backed up by pals Josh, Travis, Kevin, and Eytan) is playing its first (and possibly last and only) show tomorrow night at Rehab. Details as follows (or you can just check out the poster):
September 24, 2008 @ Rehab 25 Ave. B New York, New York 10009 21+ $3
If you can make it, I strongly recommend you go. This may never, ever happen again.
I was going to write about this sometime last week, when "The Fade To Black" was first posted, in hopes that I'd get a downloadable mp3 version for y'all, but that hasn't happened yet. There are all sorts of shenanigans going down with this release (a contest, a video...okay, maybe that's it), so I'll be sure to post about this again. Whether you want to hear about it or not.
In the mean time, check out "The Fade To Black" via this little imeem thinger below:
PS: Sorry for the lack of updates that aren't like, "Go check out something from the same ten bands I always mention!" My computer, which has most of my music and my list of stuff I need to post about, has decided to wig out on me and I've been working off my mom's desktop for the past few weeks. Plus life is crazy right now. Hopefully I'll post some other stuff in the near future. (I always say that, don't I? sigh.)
Happy Labour Day to all. I'd really love to be vegging out down the shore right now, but seeing as I have to be in the city and professionally dressed for class at 6 pm, that really wasn't an option. Maybe tomorrow, when everybody has gone home.
In other news, here's a new song for you : Malibu Stacy, whom I've mentioned before, are dropping a new record, Marathon, come the 19th. (Um. How is it September already...? WHERE'D MY SUMMER GO??) The lead single, "Ladies Can't Drive," is out now. It's the sort of thing that reminds me of the stuff I was listening to between junior and senior year of high school that makes me want to drive to my (non-existant) boyfriend's house, blasting the music with the windows down. August driving music.
Malibu Stacy - "Ladies Can't Drive"
Here are their upcoming dates, in case you're actually living in Europe :
13 September - Bucolique Ferrières Festival - Ferrières, BE 19 September - Emporium Galorium - Rouen, FR 26 September - Cirque Royal - Brussels, BE 8 October - Arsenal - Namur, BE 13 November - Ferme du Biereau - Louvain-la-Neuve, BE 26 November - Vooruit - Ghent, BE 27 November - Het Depot - Leuven, BE 29 November - Coliseum - Charleroi, BE 5 December - Salle des Fetes de Droixhe - Liège, BE 6 December - Petrol - Antwerp, BE 9 December - Botanique - Brussels, BE 13 December - La Chapelle - Mons, BE
Tally Hall are a lovely pop band from gloomy Ann Arbor, MI, and they wrote just for you these irrelevent...oh, wait. Wrong band.*
Well, okay, Tally Hall really is made up of five guys from Ann Arbor, MI, all easily identifiable by which colour tie they wear onstage. (So, instead of being, say, Joey Ramone or Ben Lashes, it's like...Zubin Blue Tie. Sort of. Go look at their 'Space to see what I mean.) And they do play some really great pop rock songs. I saw them open for OK Go two years ago (You mean a band opened for OK Go and I really liked them? Gosh, that NEVER happens!), and they were they really cute and energetic and lots of fun and super-sweet, and my roommate, who would marry all of The Clash if he could, was so smitten that he went and bought a Tally Hall t-shirt. Just making a point. (I was just slightly weirded out by the fact that Rob Yellow Tie looks EXACTLY like my ex-boyfriend named...Rob.)
Tragically, I sort of forgot about them for...well, two years. But lo and behold, on 1 April, the boys will be re-releasing their debut record, Marvin's Marvelous Mechancial Museum (and you accuse me of abusing alliteration...) on Atlantic Records. Which, yay for them. Apparently they've "remixed and remastered it, and now it's FANCIER."
Also, they made a great video for "Good Day":
AND they're going on tour again (kicking off tonight), but nowhere near where I live. Hmph. But if you live on the West Coast or in the Mid-West, do go see them. It'll be good times, I promise.
27/2/08 Modified-Phoenix, AZ 28/2/08 Beauty Bar-San Diego, CA 1/3/08 Troubadour-Los Angeles, CA 2/3/08 Rickshaw Stop-San Francisco, CA 4/3/08 Roseland Grill-Portland, OR 5/3/08 Nectar Lounge-Seattle, WA 7/3/08 Velour-Provo, UT 8/3/08 University of Boulder-Boulder, CO 9/3/08 Hi-Dive-Denver, CO 14/3/08 Home Slice Pizza-Austin, TX 15/3/08 Buffalo Billiards-Austin, TX The West Tent in Brush Square Park-Austin, TX 17/3/08 Crush Lounge-Tulsa, OK* 18/3/08 The Bluebird-St. Louis, MO* 19/3/08 Vaudeville Mews-Des Moines, IA* 20/3/08 Schubas Tavern-Chicago, IL* 21/3/08 Schubas Tavern-Chicago, IL* 22/3/08 The Intersection-Grand Rapids, MI* 5/4/08 Mac's-Lansing, MI* 6/4/08 Rubble's Bar-Mt. Pleasant, MI*
Last week, The Long Blondes announced that "Century," not "Guilt," will be the first single off their sophomore record, Couples, and it'll be released on 24 March, blah blah.
What I really want to point out is their new crop of US tour dates, which continues after their pretty extensive UK/Europe tour and kicks off in Philly on 14 May.
14/05/2008 Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's 16/05/2008 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom 17/05/2008 Washington, DC - Rock and Roll Hotel 19/05/2008 Boston, MA - Great Scott 20/05/2008 Montreal, Quebec - Cabaret de Musee 22/05/2008 Toronto, Ontario - Lee's Palace 23/05/2008 Detroit, MI - Magic Stick 24/05/2008 Chicago, IL - Logan Square Auditorium 25/05/2008 Minneapolis, MN - 7th Street Entry 28/05/2008 Seattle, WA - Neumo's 30/05/2008 Vancouver, British Columbia - Richard's on Richards 31/05/2008 Portland, OR - Doug Fir 02/06/2008 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall 04/06/2008 Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour
19 May is the day after I graduate- who's coming with me and buying me drinks?
PS: I know! Two concerts so far this month and nary a word about either. Sorry, loves. Will get on that. (Assuming you want to read me squealing about the Spice Girls, that is...)
It's me, Damian. Our fearless cyber-chief Jorge has gone missing. Apparently to Antarctica. Seriously. He said something like "if there's one chance in my life, it's now." It's a winning life-method for everyone, really, so when I get done writing this and then when you get done reading it, let's all meet up in Antarctica, and together we can kick Jorge's sorry ass for not writing this like he promised he would before he left.
THERE'S BIG NEWS. Shows in New Orleans and Washington, DC very soon. New iTunes EP You're Not Alone coming even sooner. Like right now, almost. (February 5) New Record Coming soon.
NEW EP YOU'RE NOT ALONE ON ITUNES FEBRUARY 5.
We spent the 2nd anniversary of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans recording 5 songs with the trombone soul monsters Bonerama. They are the loudest, most brass-kicking brass-kickers you've ever heard, and I got to sing songs with them. It was ExtraGreat™, and now the world can hear what OK Go would sound like if we were the trombone soul orchestra we've always dreamt of being. It comes out on Fat Tuesday of Mardi Gras and the tracklist goes like this:
1) Rock 'N' Roll Suicide (the Bowie tune) 2) A Million Ways 3) Oh Lately It's So Quiet 4) It's a Disaster 5) I Shall Be Released (the Dylan Tune, with Al "Carnival Time" Johnson on vocals)
The EP will be available only on iTunes, and 100% — every last penny — of proceeds will go toward rebuilding the music community in New Orleans, which has been devastated by Katrina. iTunes even agreed to donate their share. Funds will be split between Sweet Home New Orleans and the fund for building Al "Carnival Time'" Johnson's home in the new habitat for Humanity Musicians' Village. I could go on forever about the recording and the cause, and how excited I am and how important it is, but there's not enough room here. The point is this: you need to buy these five lil' songs to help out the world a little. OK? Stop me me at a show and I'll go on and on about why.
SHOWS IN NOLA AND DC. To celebrate the upcoming EP release, we're playing two shows with Bonerama. And check this out: if you buy a ticket to either show, you get a free download of You're Not Alone, the day it comes out! It's the greatest thing since whatever I called ExtraGreat™ in the last paragraph! The first show is this Friday. Get on it! Get tickets now. Buy plane tickets and come to New Orleans for the weekend! It's the greatest place in America!
Jan 11 - New Orleans, LA - Tipitina's http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&pl=&eventId=234096
Feb 2 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club http://purchase.tickets.com/buy/TicketPurchase?orgid=3595&pid=6150470
Again, every cent raised by these shows will be donated to the cause. If you can't make it to either one, but you still want to prove how awesome you are, you should just donate to Sweet Home New Orleans right now. A special thanks to Music Travel Management, Horizon Entertainment Cargo, Sennheiser USA, and Gibson for making these shows possible.
NEW RECORD COMING SOON.
This is kind of a lie. We're writing it right now, and it will be the best record we've ever made — I promise — but we haven't started recording yet, so everybody just cool out and be patient.
OK, that's it for today, but stay tuned for more great things next week, like how it's time to vote soon, how we're about to play a yay-voting show in NYC with my idols, and how we're going to South Africa in February.
Thanks. You're ExtraGreat™. See you in Antarctica.
Love,
Damian
Somebody stop him at a show and ask him why it's so important, and then record it for posterity, please.
From PlugInMusic.com ('cause I'm too lazy to do anything but cut and paste):
OK Go spent the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina in a studio in the Upper 9th Ward of New Orleans collaborating with Bonerama. With the help of producer Mark Nevers, they put together an EP that adds a brash, unmistakably New Orleans swagger to the OK Go’s infectious rock. The collection, called You’re Not Alone, will benefit New Orleans R&B legend Al "Carnival Time" Johnson — who joins in on a cover of Bob Dylan's "I Shall Be Released" — as well as Sweet Home New Orleans, an organization dedicated to helping the thousands of local musicians scattered by the storm.
You Are Not Alone will also feature a cover of Bowie's "Rock 'N Roll Suicide." It's set to drop on 5 February.
OK Go and Bonerama are playing 11 January at Tipitina's in New Orleans in a benefit concert for Al “Carnival Time” Johnson & Sweet Home New Orleans.
While I'm at it, I should mention that Ser Biz just released the cheekily-titled The Year In Business, another FREE record. This one is a compilation to celebrate all the crazy goodness to come out of the label this year, including previously unreleased tracks from Higgins, the Unsacred Hearts, Rocketship Park, and Secret Dakota Ring. (Cue the fangirls.)
That's two free releases in the span of a month, kids. Get 'em while they're hot!
As a special xmas treat we have decided now is the time to announce three exciting bits of news: our new single, album and tour!
Our brand new single Guilt will be released on March 24th (aka Easter Monday), followed by the long awaited release of our second album "Couples", out on April 7th. Both the single and the album were produced by Superstar DJ / producer Erol Alkan, a long time friend and fan of ours.
We are also very happy to announce we are going back on the road again, here are the dates of our short UK tour:
Tuesday 11th March - Amersham Arms, New Cross, London Tuesday 18th March - Fibbers, York Wednesday 19th March - Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh Thursday 20th March - The Lamp, Hull Friday 21st March - Independent, Sunderland Saturday 22nd March - Escobar, Wakefield Monday 24th March - The Faversham, Leeds Tuesday 25th March - The Cavern, Exeter Wednesday 26th March - Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff
You can order tickets through all the usual outlets... these are pretty intimate venues and tickets are going to go pretty fast, so get booking! And keep checking MySpace / the website for more news....
Love, The LB's xx
Bah UK bah. We'll probably have to wait a bit more 'til Couples is released over here. (I should actually go pick up the US release of Someone To Drive You Home for the four b-sides they added to it.)
The Long Blondes - "You Could Have Both"
ETA: To hear a live version of "Guilt" from their 16/6/07 concert in San Francisco, head over to this post at Waves and Wires.
31 December 2007 Record Release @ The Comet Seattle, Washington 1 January 2008 Record Release @ Sonic Boom: Ballard Seattle, Washington 5 January 2008 Record Release @ Vera Seattle, Washington
The show at The Comet is 21+; the rest are all ages.
Here's the cover art for Thank You:
Guyliner! So much guyliner! Hello, unhealthy obsession with boys in make-up!
Word on the street is that Seattle powerpoppers The Lashes are releasing some sort of record when the ball drops for 2008. (Actually, it'll probably happen about three hours after that happens, considering the time difference and all.)
Here's the bulletin Ben sent out:
Subject: 1-1-08 the new lashes rcord "THANK YOU" side A will be release on new years day at midnight.
stay tuned.
Their gig on 31 December will be at The Comet in Seattle.
Once upon a time, I was up-to-date on all the latest OK Go-related knowledge. Those days are no more because, dude, I've grown up a bit, and besides, a year spent in another country usually changes one's priorities. Also, they're sort of boring me now. (Make a new record already!)
*ahem* So I've known for a little while that they were going to do a song for Dig For Fire: A Tribute to the Pixies, but I didn't know what song, when it was coming out, etc. etc. because, as explained, I'm not so much for the paying attention anymore. Apparently they've covered "Gigantic" (as opposed to "Wave of Mutilation," which they were covering live over summer 2006), which I came across today on Facebook, of all places.
Not being a Pixies fan (I've just never actually pursued their music, to be honest), I can't compare it to the original. As an OK Go song, I quite like it, because it's new material and yet it reminds me of old school OK Go, circa Appendices. It sounds a lot more like, say, "Minuet in C# Minor" or "Letterbox" (another cover, this one of the They Might Be Giants' song) or even "Unrequited Orchestra of Locomotion". (In fact, I believe that some of those tracks off of Appendices, which is really OK Go-before-they-were-OK Go, were created by frontman Damian Kulash's Pixies-inspired college band, A La Playa. Which, in this case, makes total sense. This is a sound he's played with before.) It's got the elements you've come to expect from OK Go (say, Damian's falsetto) but with a harder edge.
And after nearly two and a half years of pounding down Oh No, it's ridiculously refreshing. It's interesting to see their sound sort of come full circle, from the distortion-filled noise of Appendices to the over-produced candy of OK Go to the more accessible, less polished Oh No (somewhat a product of its 2005 times) and back to this- the old mixed with the new.
If this is what we can expect from OK Go in the future, then, well, I'm all for that.
Dig For Fire: A Tribute to the Pixies is currently available on iTunes. It's released in physical format on 27 November. You can pre-order it here.
Full track listing: Bedroom Walls - 'Stormy Weather' British Sea Power - 'Caribou' Bunnies - 'Alec Eiffel' Charles Douglas - 'Bone Machine' David Miller - 'Manta Ray' Dylan In The Movies - 'Down To The Well' Elk City - 'Monkey Gone To Heaven' & 'Number 13 Baby' Fashion Victims - 'Hey' Joe Harvard Band - 'In Heaven (Everything Is Fine)' John Strohm - 'Where Is My Mind?' Joy Zipper - 'Wave of Mutilation' Julie Peel - 'The Happening' kNIFE & fORK (featuring Eric Drew Feldman) - 'Motorway To Roswell' Mogwai - 'Gouge Away' Morning Theft - 'Ana' OK Go - 'Gigantic' PC Munoz - 'I Bleed' The Commons w/Elizabeth Harper - 'Here Comes Your Man' The Rosebuds - 'Break My Body' They Might Be Giants - 'Havalina'
I've been wasting my vacation Flipping through these hundred stations And my body's fine But my head's seen better days
About t1p!g
A former mp3 blog started in 2007 on a whim, wherein I pretend to know things about music. I write about what I like and what catches my attention. Expect powerpop, indie rock, guilty pleasures, and stuff by people I actually know. No
year-end lists, plenty of corny analogies and ridiculous vocabulary. Welcome!
Disclaimerish Stuff
If you think I should be listening to a particular band or artist, feel free to contact me and share, but not if you're a spambot. that1popgem [at] gmail [dot] com
Everything here is by me, unless it's by someone else.
Blog title and lyrics from "That One Pop Gem" by We Are Scientists. Credit where credit is due. I'm not affiliated in any way with WAS, though I've seen them a lot of times and lost count.
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