Your mom. Have to admit I skipped this track on Chromeo's uberdope Fancy Footwork LP the first 35 times, but then laziness kicked in and "Momma's Boy" went to work. It's outstanding even on an album pretty much entirely devoted to the 80s American pop legacy (which Canadian Dave 1 tells us about here along with why Estelle Getty wasn't his fave GG).
Mark and Johanna from Wellington, New Zealand's Little Pictures sent us this pleasant digipop number about housing all of your homeys in the same flat. Listening to it on the bus may cause you to bob your head like a twit, and since showing emotion during mass transit is a sign of weakness, maybe you should also be carrying a weapon. In which case you'll look really scary, smiling and bobbing on the bus with a weapon. So maybe just play it back at the crib.
After hearing that all 300+ 2K8 Olympic events will be scored by Jamie Hewlett, then condensed into a 30-minute mashup with 80s British cartoons and Damon Albarn compositions*. Kicking that off is this animated promotional sequence based on the classical Chinese folk tale "Journey to the West" (also known as "Monkey").
I think this is a great way to get young alts really razzed about the XXIX Olympiad, especially some of the more extreme sports like badminton and table tennis that, technically, you could just drink a bunch of AMP and start training for immediately.
Their early work was a little too new wave for my tastes, but with this new Pineapple Express soundtrack being released next week, I think they really come into their own, commercially and artistically. The title track has a clear, crisp sound, and a new sheen of consummate professionalism that really gives the song a big boost. Plus Huey makes several direct references to the chron.
What if I told you we were giving away 3 copies of the Pineapple Express soundtrack, and each will include a high-gloss PE poster with which to wrap yourself in? If that's something you might be interested in, email us to enter (US only please) and we'll pick winners before everything drops on August 5. If you'd like to get extra nice by entering twice you can also visit Brahsome.
Tracklist: 01. Pineapple Express - Huey Lewis & The News 02. Electric Avenue - Eddy Grant 03. Dr. Greenthumb - Cypress Hill 04. Lost At Birth - Public Enemy 05. Poison - Bell Biv Devoe 06. Wanted Dread Or Alive - Peter Tosh 07. Don't Look Around - Mountain 08. Pineapple Chase (aka The Reprise of the Phoenix) - Graeme Revell 09. Bird's Lament - Moondog & The London Saxophonic 10. Coconut Girl - Brother Nolan 11. Hilawe - Arthur Lyman 12. Tha Crossroads - Bone Thugs-N-Harmony 13. Pineapple Fight (aka The Nemesis Proclaimed) - Graeme Revell 14. I Didn't Mean To Hurt You - Spiritualized 15. Woke Up Laughing - Robert Palmer
Barring a few cops/lightning bolts, you can chalk up another successful four-day Bmore banger for the Wham City crew. Key: JP, Abouretum, Ear Pwr, Andy Abelow, freaks, Future Islands, Ninjasonik, freaks, Dan Deacon, Trey Told 'Em, Teengirl Fantasy, tiger.
Kevin Nottingham's This is Hip Hop has a running series called "Who Flipped It Better?" that we're hijacking to get your thoughts on an epic flow battle - Rza vs. Nas vs. Mos Def. The original:
Message From A Black Man Composed by Barrett Strong-Norman Whitfield Performed by The Temptations
Souled On Music says "The Temptations released the track in 1969 on their Puzzle People LP. Although some critics and fans viewed the song's lyrics as being too political and militant, the track still became a popular radio request. It's often been said that The Temptations themselves were concerned about the tune being too forward-thinking for the times, resulting in their reluctance to play the track during live performances."
But nothing's too controversial these days though, right Nas? "Message" was also recorded or sampled by Charles Earland, Don Julian, S.O.U.L., Byron Lee & The Dragonaires, Mickey & The Soul Generation, The Spinners, The Whatnauts, and Derrick Harriott, MF Doom, and probably Girl Talk.
So considering production, flow and message - who flipped it better?
Just a break from our post-Whartscape froth to let you know Netherfriends, a damn fine Chi-town psychedelic singalong troupe, will be touring n' blogging their way through Bmore this Thursday at Metro Gallery with Rifle Recoil and bonus friends. They're also crashing in your basement, hope that's OK.
Let's walk through your decision process for attending: Is this show on a weekend night? No.
A Thursday at least? Yes.
OK. Do I know them? No.
But is there a strong chance that, at a later date, I may want to say that I knew about them first? Mos def.
Nice. However, cash is tight because I just _____ my ______, so. Email us for a guest list spot.
You seem to be systematically removing all of my excuses, well played. But I prefer to have an example of how the music would be delivered visually. Booyah.
Yesterday Girl Talk's Greg Gillis told us about his action plan for bringing some cold, hard, legal justice to the punks posting unauthorized Girl Talk mashup videos on YouTube and other sites. He's understandably concerned that this "illegal art" is a blatant violation of his copyrighted work and has a well-shaven legal team ready to go Lars on their asses.
When Girl Talk fans who downloaded Feed the Animals for free make unauthorized mashup videos of Girl Talk mashups, what happens? Is that like when Diet Sundrop tried to sue Sundrop for taste infringement?
Either way, this weekend is that kind of party with an implosion of 70+ artists creating anything but familiar laptop derivates. Not even counting the inaugural incarnation of indie Voltron glob Who is the Tunafish Man? (Dan Deacon + Spank Rock + Girl Talk), expect to see some unexpected collabs and spontaneous freaking in the aisles. Word is there will even be a couple Bmore elementary school janitors on site Sunday night for when things get sick, they got that special sawdust.
"So long afternoons I sit in my easy canvas chair facing Void Hozomeen, the silence hushes in my little shack, my stove is still, my dishes glitter, my firewood lies piled and snaky in the corner, my canned goods wait to be opened, my old cracked shoes weep, my pans lean, my dish rags hang, the wind wallows and belts at the window and there's nothing for me to do but wait - and breathe - wait, breathe, eat, sleep, cool, wash, pace, watch."
Decades from now when alt scientists study 2K8 as the year of the birth of blog house and examine millions of crappy homemade remix relics, you'll be t.hankful for having actually seen a real DJ. Fred Falke is at the Talking Head tonight for FREE w/ Treasure Fingers and Franki Chan; all you have to do is tell corporate you're coming. Gonna let his sample catalogue ride on out and speak for itself, but I can also tell you from catching him in NYC this weekend everything is legit. That bassline on Colours? Plays it live in front of the tables.
Just try to keep it together here. THURSDAY: CHARLES THEATER, 1711 N Charles Street 6:00 Missoula Oblongata (Baltimore + CT) 7:00 Rick Royer (Baltimore) 7:30 Ben Heresey (New York) 8:00 Blue Leader (Baltimore) 8:20 Teeth Mountain (Baltimore) 8:40 INTERMISSION 9:00 Leprechaun Catering (Baltimore) 9:20 Mark Hosler (of negativland) (Asheville, NC) 10:20 Ultimate Reality (Baltimore) 10:55 Nautical Almanac (Baltimore) 11:20 Matmos (Baltimore)
FRIDAY: 2640 SPACE, 2640 Saint Paul Street 6:00 A Murmered Tale (Baltimore) 6:45 Eagle Ager (Brooklyn) 7:05 Andy Abelow (Baltimore) 7:25 Matteah Baim (New York) 7:55 Santa Dads (Baltimore) 8:15 Wheatie Mattiasich (Baltimore) 8:35 Lesser Gonzalez (Baltimore) 8:55 Arbouretum (Baltimore) 9:25 Golden Age (x-more dogs)(Baltimore) 9:55 Jana Hunter (Baltimore) 10:25 Beach House (Baltimore)
SATURDAY: NORTH AVE LOT, 131 W North Ave 12:00 DOORS 12:40 King Cloud (Baltimore) 1:00 Smarts (Baltimore) 1:20 Benny Stoofy (Scrummage University)(Detroit) 1:40 Air Waves (Brooklyn) 2:00 Ed Schrader (Baltimore) 2:20 Facts (Baltimore) 2:40 Perm Hurdeler (Glasgow) 3:10 Food For Animals (Baltimore+DC) 3:30 Wzt Hearts (Baltimore) 4:00 The Creepers (Baltimore) 4:30 Lexie Mountain Boys (Baltimore) 5:00 Ecstatic Sunshine (Baltimore) 5:30 Bird Names (Baltimore) 6:00 Eyeball Skeleton (Baltimore) 6:30 DD/MM/YYYY (Toronto) 7:00 Mae Shi (Los Angeles) 7:30 The Deathset (Baltimore) 8:00 Killer Whales (Chicago) 8:30 Thank You (Baltimore) 9:00 Oxes (Baltimore)
SONAR, 407 E Saratoga St 11:00 Human Host (Baltimore) 11:25 Blood Baby (Baltimore) 11:55 Nuclear Power Pants (Baltimore) 12:15 Videohippos (Baltimore) 12:45 Celebration (Baltimore)
SUNDAY NORTH AVE LOT, 131 W North Ave 12:00 DOORS 12:30 Moss of Aura (Baltimore) 1:00 Jones (Baltimore) 1:20 Witch Hat (Baltimore) 1:40 Hearts of Darknesses (New York) 2:00 Teenage Souls (Baltimore) 2:20 Thrust Lab (Baltimore) 2:40 Ear Pwr (Asheville) 3:00 Kyle Mabson+Mincemeat or 10 Speed+Narwals (LA, Philly, Richmond) 3:40 White Williams (New York) 4:00 Adventure (Baltimore) 4:30 Club Lifestyles (Baltimore) 4:55 Future Islands (Baltimore) 5:25 Height (Baltimore) 5:55 Dan Deacon (Baltimore) 6:40 Trey Told 'Em (Gregg Gillis + HOD) (Pittsburgh + New York) 7:00 Grand Buffet (Pittsburgh) 7:30 Double Dagger (Baltimore) 8:00 Parts & Labor (Brooklyn) 8:30 Ponytail (Baltimore) 9:00 Black Dice (Brooklyn)
ANNEX THEATER> 11:00 Shams (Richmond) 11:20 Smart Growth (Baltimore) 11:40 Ninjasonik (Brooklyn) 12:00 Mark Brown (Baltimore) 12:20 Teengirl Fantasy (Oakland) 12:40 Egyptrixx + Alias (Toronto) 1:00 Wet Hair (Iowa City) 1:20 Sewn Leather (1980's) 1:40 DJ Dog Dick (Baltimore) 2:00 Who Is The Tunafish Man? (Dan Deacon + Girl Talk + Spank Rock) Dawn: Cex (Baltimore)
Who's your top 10? Mine are Tuna Spank, Double Dagger, Thrust Lab, MF Death Set, Height/Jones, Jana Hunter, Videohippos, The Mae Shi, Oxes, Dan Deacon, Celebration, Ninjasonik, Beach Heezy, Future Islands, Lesser Gonzalez, Trey Told 'Em, White Williams, Grand Buffet, and of course the bands that will form spontaneously mid-event.
Housekeeping:
Pre-sale tickets will be sold until Midnight on Wednesday
Remaining tickets will be sold at the door
If you plan on attending getting a ticket in advance is highly suggested
All Show Pass is $40 (6 shows, 77 Performances)
Individual Day tickets are $12
More info on tickets and other at whamcity.com
For reference, here are the housekeeping rules from last year which include direction on where you should not pee.
If you've a penchant for decadent hedonism, Valentino suits, Ian Curtis, honey-almond body scrub and Kraut Disco you may enjoy France's Poni Hoax.
Halberstram just loaned us their Images of Singrid compact disc, produced by Joakim and only recently receiving US distribution via Tigersushi, and it's top gear. Think Bret Easton Ellis with a bassline.
As we get closer to Whartscape's cash money lightning jumpoff, Chief Wham City whig Dan Deacon stirs the pot further by revealing a special annoucement via a serious of non-crytpic Interweb messages - Spank Rock MC Naeem Juwan will be performing in a collaborative superproject also including DD and Girl Talk's Greg Gillis this weekend at Whartscape (presumably Sunday afternoon). Not sure when this will happen, but you can leave your cell phone number and a BT technician may or may not call you 30 minutes before it goes down.
"In addition to my set and gregg's trey told em set on sunday july 20, at whartscape, gregg gillis (girltalk), naeem juwan (spankrock) and i (dan deacon) will be doing a joint set of all new material jams eternal.
gregg and i have been talking about doing a band together for some time and i'm really excited naeem is going to be a part of it for this rad first birth. hopefully our sick jams turn out sick. tickets are still available but close to selling out. getting tickets would be safer than just showing up. ok baltimore, see you soooooon"
Well that is just huge, as the Spank/Deacon combo Floristree set at last year's Whartscape was the highlight of the weekend (check that here).
Reader contest - What should this supergroup be named???
Special Whartscape prize for best entry (just leave them in the comments).
The rest of the afternoon lineup includes White Williams, Ponytail, Future Islands, Height, Double Dagger (!), Black Dice and more, so, your Sunday is fully fitted. You can tape Ninja Warrior.
Jay Reatard (known by your lil' cousin as Jay Weetahd) will challenge MMJ for best Southern headbang this Sunday at Talking Head (next to Sonar) along with local baby seal clubbers Vincent Black Shadow. Go.
Tips for establishing a healthy, sustainable level of indie cred and/or blog froth:
Secure decent Pitchfork review (must be 8.0 or higher) Headline Bar Mitzvahs (post-ironically) Lots of Casio synths Perform 16 times in 5 days at SXSW Reenact scenes from The Wire, sell DVD on tour Play mad basement parties with The Death Set Cover Miley Cyrus (post-post-ironically)
Mind you The Mae Shi are not a doe-eyed buzz bin band or anything, GvB was talking about them three years ago before we were even in bloggy diapers. Catch them next Saturday afternoon with The Death Set, Celebration, Oxes and more more more. Tickets at whamcity.com.
Well, stop it. No Age is at Floristree with Abe Vigoda y High Places. It will probably start late and you'll probably be tired after throwing some Bohs, but afterwards all the experimental fuzz waves will provide rad dreams (that's not a link to the movie Rad, this time).
Texas native and current Bmore rez Jana Hunter will be lulling Friday night Whartscapers with the type of detached calm also accessible by taking a nap in your car whilst it's being towed. Recorded on a borrowed four-track, her Carrion EP (as in the carcass of a dead animal, nice touch) is a simple and haunting assessment of bleak realities, like when you accidentally drop your keys into a river of molten lava and just let 'em go, because man, they're gone.
It would be a shame to immediately dive into Beach House/Mazzy Star comparisons, but yes, that was a first thought. We invite you to watch both JH and BH at Whartscape next Friday, 7/18 at 2640 Space and share a more informed perspective with us afterwards (tickets here).
Bonus Jack Handey deep thought: "The next time I have meat and mashed potatoes, I think I'll put a very large blob of potatoes on my plate with just a little piece of meat. And if someone asks me why I didn't get more meat, I'll just say "Oh, you mean this?" and pull out a big piece of meat from inside the blob of potatoes, where I've hidden it. Good magic trick, huh?"
This weekend the Pontiak brothers celebrated Amurica's bday with a down home BBQ/friendstival in the Blue Ridge farm countryside of Warrenton, VA, cramming a quaint field house (above) with performances from Field Athletics, Jones, Mickey Free, Height, Wye Oak, Arbouretum and a nasty closer from a shirtless, war-painted Pontiak (anyone have pics?). Alex and Vic from Beach House and Bob from Small Sur were up in the cut for chillaxing purposes; freedom dogs, freedom pasta salad and freedom cupcakes were provided; and LED lights, sparklers and fireflies replaced fireworks and black foam snakes. No farm animals were injured, although I almost kicked a cat trying to get into my tent that I thought was a raccoon (the "meow" came just in time).
Earlier in the day Height, Bow (Mickey Free) and Jones stepped out in the corn to excercise the first.
Pick up Kale, the new Pontiak/Arbouretum split-LP featuring new material and covers of Velvet Underground cofounder John Cale via Thrill Jockey. Tracklist:
01 Arbouretum: "Time Doesn't Lie" 02 Arbouretum: "Buffalo Ballet" (John Cale cover) 03 Arbouretum: "Flood of Floods" 04 Pontiak: "Dome Under the Sky" 05 Pontiak: "The Endless Plain of Fortune" (John Cale cover) 06 Pontiak: "Green Pool" 07 Pontiak: "Mr. Wilson" (John Cale cover)
