CLEM SNIDE DOES MICHAEL JACKSON! (And more!)

Posted on July 18th, 2009 by ekko

From May 6, 2009 . . .

Set list:

1. Nature Boy (Eden Ahbez) (solo acoustic)
2. Wallmart
3. Let’s Explode
4. Something Beautiful
5. Yip/Jump Music
6. Born A Man
7. Linger (Cranberries)> Lose Big
8. Fight Song Melody > Evil In The World
9. Jews For Jesus Blues
10. Me No
—encore—
11. Well (solo acoustic)
12. Your Favorite Music > You Can’t Always Get What You Want (The Stones)
13. Can’t You See (Marshall Tucker Band*) > Love The Unknown
14. Ice Cube
15. Man In The Mirror (Michael Jackson)

Full show.

I HAVE A GREAT MAILBAG, BUT ONLY TWO EARS

Posted on July 16th, 2009 by ekko

Mercy! My cup runneth over! There are so many bands that deserve posts here, but I can’t do a full review of all of them, or I’d be posting three times a day. Hence, today’s gangbang. These are all artists worth a sample listen and, if you like what you hear, maybe you can support them by buying their records, going to their shows, etc. Times are hard, but music is always worth spending cash on.

YESMISTERBLOODVESSEL-”Racing the Relapse”

YesMisterBloodVessel is a strangely named band that sometimes makes well-played, conventional rock (“Skeleton Czar”, “Relativity”)) but at other times is slightly offbeat (“You Will Never Know”) and at still others makes music that belongs on the soundtrack to The Lost Boys (the very cool instrumental, “Reflection on the Rocks”), which is to say, it’s slow, slightly creepy, but has a beat and an atmospheric sense of The Cure. In fact, the graphic at right pretty much sums ‘em up!

Reflections on the Rocks

You Will Never Know

JASON PAUL JOHNSTON-”Willows Motel”

From the slightly offbeat to the traditional, another submission I’m enjoying is the rootsy, folksy release from Jason Paul Johnston, on Rarebird Records. It’s very simple music–excellent, clear and sweet vocals accompanied by piano, banjo, guitar . . . I’m pretty sure it’s his debut, but his bio on his website, where you can also buy this little gem, is a little too cute to tell for sure.

MELLONCOLLIES

If you’re from Brooklyn, you’re from my native land and you’ll probably get a mention here as long as you don’t suck.  Quintet The Melloncollies fit that bill.  The production on their debut, Goodbye Cruel World (Somme Music), is top notch.

Simple Naive Someone

DISCOVERY-”LP”

Last but not least, I’m throwing a minor shout to Discovery‘s LP, if only because they had the prescience to cover the Jackson 5. I’m not a huge fan of electronica, but these is less electropop than electrosoul, which makes it pretty interesting. Plus it’s got Vampire Weekend keyboardist/producer Rostam Batmanglij and Ra Ra Riot singer Wes Miles. On the XL label.

I Want You Back (J5 cover)

PICTURE OF THE DAY

Posted on July 16th, 2009 by ekko

NASTRADOOMUS

Posted on July 15th, 2009 by ekko

The funniest thing about mash-up album Nastradoomus is that there’s actually an Amazon page for it.  Weird.

This is a pretty rare mash album of MF Doom and Nas.  That’s right, the dude who says hip hop is dead and a dude who I think may actually be dead.  Cool, huh?  But if you don’t like these artists, you’ll hate this.  If you do like them, you just might dig it.

Track listing:

Come and Get Me

Family

Hate Me Now

Last Words

Life We Chose

Nastradoomus

One Love

Project Window

Shoot Em Up

Street Dreams

If I Ruled the World

ZIP!

PICTURE OF THE DAY: Moving picture edition

Posted on July 15th, 2009 by ekko

BONUS SONGS OF THE DAY

Posted on July 14th, 2009 by ekko

Just got the press release from Audible Treats and I had to share it with you–the first single from DJ JS-1, “Ridiculous,” featuring one of my favorite emcees of the underground scene: Masta Ace.  JS-1 has worked with The Rock Steady Crew, KRS-One, Common, and many others.

Ridiculous-Masta Ace, Pharoahe Monch, OC, DJ JS-1

Buy “No Sell Out” here.

And more free hip hop:

“Brainbender” feat. Kool Keith, Ced Gee Canibus, Prince Poetry, & Rahzel

“Nuthin” feat. CL Smooth, Brother Ali, and Sadat X

“Murder” feat. Chino XL, Sean Price, & Killah Priest


SUMMER CATS vs. BAND OF SKULLS

Posted on July 14th, 2009 by ekko

A two-fer of debuts fer you fer today!

An album of sunny retropop from The Summer Cats (an Australian quintet) and some edgier retropop from Band of Skulls.  Both bands feature a ‘60s garageband sound, but where you might here Summer Cats on the soundtrack to Austin Powers, you’d be more likely to hear Band of Skulls on the Trainspotting album.  A nice pair of contrasts  for this afternoon.

First up: Summer Cats’ collection, Songs for Tuesdays.  This is a smartly packaged product, from the flashy cover and the crayon-like band logo to the songs themselves.  All are short and fast, and the album skips relentlessly, cheerful and catchy.   The band never stretches too far, content to make a summer album designed for sun and fun and an escape from deep thoughts.  It’s soft, cuddly, cute and shiny.  And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with cotton candy and lemonade.  For fans of Husky Rescue, Strawberry Alarm Clock, The Zombies, and maybe the Go Gos.

Hey You-Summer Cats

But after you’ve eaten watermelon and played volleyball for an hour, you might be ready to lean back, watch the surf, and pound some Jaeger.  If so, might I suggest Band of Skulls?  This is darker (but not dark); where Summer Cats were a ‘60s afternoon, BoS are a suburban garage, with a couple local kids peering through the windows.  “Baby Darling Doll Face Honey” has a palpable Iggy Pop influence, and is musically more interesting but thematically less consistent than the Summer Cats album.  That inconsistency isn’t a bad thing—it makes the album unpredictable and powerful, in fact.  Standouts here are the vocals and the fact that it’s not overproduced (if anything, it sounds like a live album), which gives it an organic, authentic flavor.  For fans of postpunk blues (a la The White Stripes), Them!, the Stooges, the Standells, and The TroggsThis may be one of the best first-albums of the year.
A solid pair of debuts, a little something for everyone, both well worth checking out.

Impossible (ysi)

Honest (ysi)

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