THE HOT RATS-Turn Ons

Posted on March 5th, 2010 by ekko

Cover albums are usually a collection of songs that sound pretty much like the originals, with some really eclectic choices to show how cool the band is.  In other words, they’re about establishing credibility for musical tastes, but not so much for musical skill.  It’s much easier to be creative when someone else already did the creating part of the job.

But not so, “Turn Ons,” the debut album by Supergrass side project Hot Rats (starring Gaz Coombes and Danny Goffey).  The songs here are more than covers—they take on the originals in meaningful ways, even changing the very composition.  The most obvious example is their falsetto, almost emo cover of The Beastie Boys anthem, “Fight for Your Right To Party,” which I didn’t even recognize until I did a double-take on the lyrics.  But there are subtler examples as well.  The Lovecats, for example, is beautifully reworked from goth to psychedelic punk, and Bike is reworked from psychedelic rock to psychedelic new wave, while Squeeze’s “Up the Junction” goes from soulless Europop to a song with painful meaning.  Honestly, I knew all the lyrics to that song and must have listened to it a hundred times at college parties, but I never realized it was a desperate song about an alcoholic who destroys his own marriage.

You’ll be curious about this album because it’s a covers album and, hey, who doesn’t love covers?  But you should get it because it’s very, very good.  And unlike most covers projects, it might actually surprise you.

Fight For Your Right to Party (YSI)

BONUS!

Party for Your Right to Fight-Atmosphere (YSI)

Tags: Indie rock, Punk

PICTURE OF THE DAY

Posted on March 5th, 2010 by ekko

When I was in College, the Womens’ Night Out crowd told me that if I made a joke about rape, I was condoning it.  I didn’t agree then, and I don’t agree now.

Tags: Picture of the day

VIDEO OF THE DAY

Posted on March 4th, 2010 by ekko

Tags: Video of the day

SUPER HERO MUSIC A to Z! (Part One)

Posted on March 4th, 2010 by ekko

Finally, Ekko! That’s what you’re saying, right? It’s about time you combined the two things you dig most in life! Here goes a superpost . . . I limited the inclusion of “themes” because, frankly, that’s just too damn easy.

And this post is just too damn big to be contained in one single day . . . So this is just part one.  You’ll find some of the songs here, but you’ll have to wait for part 2 for the zipfile.

A is for Adam Selzer’s nerd ballad, “Stop Talking About Comic Books or I’ll Kill You.”

A is also for Art Brut-D.C. Comics and Chocolate Milk Shakes. “Some things will always be great! Even though I’m 28!” I’ve never been a big AB fan, or a big DC fan for that matter, but this song is hilarious.

B is for Backyard Tire Fire and Batcapes . . . Walking Up Wearing a Batcape.

C is for comic books.  “Basement bw Comics” by MC Esoteric is pretty much my life story.  See also E.

C is also for Casper the Friendly Ghost-Mike Doughty. Not a super-hero per se, but I couldn’t resist including it.  And what’s the deal with this picture of Casper, anyway.  Just what kind of pictures are they taking?

D is for Tenacious!  Spider-Man-Tenacious D (direct link).

D is also for Superman-Drive-By Truckers (direct link) You know, researching this post taught me that there are a boatload of songs about Superman that have nothing to do with Superman.  This is one of them.  I only posted it because it’s the Drive-By Truckers, and Patterson is like a God . . .

E is for Esoteric.  MC Esoteric is a lot like MF DOOM in that he uses sueprhero themes with frequency.  He’s also a deft producer and skilled rapper.  It was hard to pick just one song of his to throw up here, so I picked two.  The first is under “C” and the other one is “Selling Spidey.”  Fantastic stuff.

F is for the Foo Fighters-My Hero.  See, I’d do Flaming Lips’ own version of Waiting for Superman here (covered under “I”) but I don’t have a bootleg of it and, sadly and surprisingly, the band is part of the RIAA mafia.

G is for David Gillis’ acoustic guitar take on the Spidey theme.  Love this song.

G is also for Superman-Grateful Dead (direct link)

G is for a third thing, too!  Super Hero Brother-G Love and Special Sauce.

H is for the hip hop superhero gang-bang of Super Heroes-Planet Asia. A great name-dropping rap.

H is also for Heroes (David Bowie cover)-The Magnetic Fields.  No, not superheroes.  But I couldn’t resist posting some MFs.  Other than MF DOOM, of course.  Or not:

H is for ho!  Space Ho’s-Danger DOOM. I could probably fill this page with MF Doom songs . . . I love this song, and the whole “DangerDOOM” album.

I is for Iron and Wine!  (Betcha thought I’d post Iron Man, didn’t you?)  Waiting for Superman-Iron and Wine. A Flaming Lips cover.  Not happy with that.  OK, fine . . .

I is for Iron Man.  Turns out I did post it.  But this is the Four Tet song.  Cool electronic instrumental.

I is for, alright, already!  The classic Iron Man theme song! 

J is for Jimmy Swift Band’s romantic-then-jazzy take on the Spider-Man theme.  A seven-minute exploration(!)

J is also for Spiderman-Jill Sobule. A song about those dudes on Hollywood and Vine who dress up like heroes. There’s a great documentary about these folks called “Confessions of a Super Hero.” Highly recommend it.

K is for Kiss the Girl-Undercover Superman.

K is also for Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, a band that posed the question: Hulk or Thing?  (Clearly it was Hulk.  Any comic nerd who read that great Fantastic Four two-part story knows that.)

L is for Lost in the Sauce by Foul Mouth Jerk, featuring Breeze Evahflowin.  “Streetlight Music” is a fantastic record.  This is the only song about Batman on it.

L is also for Los Lobos-Superman (live version).

M is for . . . More in part two!  But here’s today’s ZIP FILE!  (If any of the above-listed songs are missing, it might be because I accidentally put them in the part two file.  Catch that post, unzip it, and see if it’s there before you complain.  Not that complaining will get you much of anything.)

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Tags: Comic books, Covers, Spider-Man, Superheroes

HEAVY GLOW-The Filth and the Fury EP

Posted on March 3rd, 2010 by ekko

Before you can begin to enjoy Heavy Glow’s

“The Filth and the Fury,” you have to forgive them for swiping the name from the Sex Pistols.  You have to, because they are absolutely nothing like the Pistols.  Heavy Glow are a blues trio with blazing guitar, energetic drums, and rough(ish) vocals.  Are they like The White Stripes?  A little.  But their music is tighter, better organized.  Are they like Black Keys?  A little, but the vocals are much better and they focus on extended 1970s-style guitar solos.  Their well-produced EP features modern blues like “Red July” and heavier, stoner jams like the single, “Love Ghost.”  The EP consists of 5 songs recorded in one 6-hour session.  And it sounds like it, too.  There’s a sense of improvisation and freedom, the sound of sweat and smiles, mixed in with the dirt and grind.

The CD that the band sent me also has two unlisted bonus tracks that are just as good as the five “official” listed tracks.  When I looked it up on iTunes, it looks like you just get the five there.  So order the CD from their website or something.  This is a trio that should be on your radar.

Love Ghost

Tags: Blues, Indie rock

PICTURE OF THE DAY

Posted on March 3rd, 2010 by ekko

Tags: Godstuff, Messiah, Picture of the day

MIDAS FALL and STEVIE CROOKS

Posted on March 2nd, 2010 by ekko

Edinburgh, Scotland’s Midas Fall are a band that seems to have two speeds: Progressive pop and shoegaze ballad.  And they’re quite good at both.   It’s hard to find much information about them, though.  Even the press material doesn’t offer a whole lot of info.  I can tell you that vocalist Elizabeth Heaton is the main reason to listen here–she’s got a terrific voice–and whichever of the three guitarists plays the bubbling leads is a strong second.  “Eleven. Return and Revert” appears to be the band’s debut album.  Give the single a try–I think you’ll dig it.

Moviescreens

Thought I’d combine the Midas Fall review, about a band that’s as musical as can be, with a rap review.  Stevie Crooks is giving away his latest, “Diamonds and Guns,” for free!  Crooks is remarkably versatile, able to spin hardcore street tales and then turn on a dime tell a vulnerable tale about this father, then do another 360 and do an I’m-better-than-you rap, all the while mixing flows influenced by everyone from the fast-and-clear Eminem to the growling of Mobb Deep to the kind of wise-ass playground taunts you’d hear from Lil’ Wayne. 

I’m not saying Crooks is necessarily as good as any of those well-established acts.  But I am saying he has the potential to be.

Stevie Crooks is a West Coaster without claiming a set, he’s tough without fake posturing, he doesn’t have ridiculous claims of having been a street Godfather, or shot twenty guys, or any kind of lame B.S. like that.  His lyrics are hot, the beats are tremendous, and almost every single song is a keeper.

Taste the song “Stop Look Listen” if you must, but really you should get the whole album for free here.

And while you’re at it, cop last year’s CSTC mixtape.  It’s fantastic, too.  Much harder, utilizing Mobb Deep beats….

Tags: Free Album!, Hip Hop, Mixtape, Shoegaze

PICTURE OF THE DAY

Posted on March 2nd, 2010 by ekko

Tags: Picture of the day

THE CRAZIES

Posted on March 1st, 2010 by ekko

I don’t usually review movies in this space, but I’m as qualified to do so as I am to review music or comics.  Which is to say, I’m a little more qualified than Ellen is to judge amateur pop stars.  (I mean, I’ve been doing it since about ’05.  When did she get started?)  But I just saw The Crazies, and I have to write about it.  I have to!

By way of disclosure: I am a huge George A. Romero fan.  The first movie I ever saw that made an impact on me was Night of the Living Dead.  (Okay, the second.  Star Wars was the first.)  I was about 8 years old, and we were on vacation in a log cabin in Maine .  My dad wanted to see it, and so me, him, and my mom drove into Port Clyde to the only movie theater—a revival house—had dinner at Peter Ott’s Steakhouse, and went to the flick.  I lasted until the brick hit the car window, and then I was out.  Had nightmares for a week and barely a drop of blood was shed.

I can’t say the original The Crazies had anything close to that kind of impact on me, but since then I haven’t missed one of George’s films.  He doesn’t direct or write as much as he used to, and I couldn’t get through Diary of the Dead (camerawork made me nauseous), but I dug all the other “The Dead” films, loved The Dark Half and Creepshow, and even found redeeming parts of Monkey Shines.  So I had to see the remake of The Crazies on opening weekend.

It sounds like a million other plague/zombie movies: Town goes from creepy to insane in a matter days, just about everybody dies, there’s violence, etc. etc.  All that does indeed occur.  But it’s handled very well.  It is genuinely frightening, and when it takes that inevitable turn from horror to action flick (as far too many horror films do these days), it actually retains its tone.  It’s not like watching two different movies.  Part of the way it maintains its style is by staying with one point of view.  Unlike the original, the only indications we have of military involvement are a few satellite pictures and then we see whatever David, the Sheriff and main character, sees.  This is where it goes right where Hills Have Eyes 2 went wrong—we the audience stay with the main player.

No, there’s nothing really new here, and the coincidence that David and his wife are both immune does seem far fetched, but this is a solidly terrifying (and realistic) movie.  The last thing to mention is the role of the military.  The military is portrayed as a fascistic, unsympathetic monolith, with just two exceptions: The first is a young National Guardsman briefly captured by David and his deputy, the other is a bureaucrat trying to flee the town.  But this seems both realistic and proper: To those who think it portrays the military in a negative light, I say what would you have them do to stop a supervirus of this magnitude?  I think the tone was just right.

So I’m giving it my highest recommendation.

Tags: Horror, Movies

STRANGE BOYS-Be Brave

Posted on March 1st, 2010 by ekko

Last April, I prayed that a group of really obnoxious looking kids called The Strange Boys would get some hype and love. Sometimes, dreams come true.  In the Red Records (Black Lips, Jay Reatard, Mystery Girls) will release the Austin, Texas band’s latest foray into organ-driven, 1950s garage-style nasal punk this month. The band has grown a little bit, but they still sound a bunch of weirdos practicing in their basement.  And that D.I.Y. sound is what makes them so much fun . . . And so damn good.  It’s the kind of music where anything can happen.  The single, “Be Brave,” is freakin’ awesome.  And you gotta dig the lyrics, too, even if you have to strain to understand them sometimes.  A favorite is from the lead-off track, “I See,” which goes: “Tonight’s dinner is tomorrow’s shit/Enjoy it before it stinks.”  It sounds like it’s trying to be profound, but comes off as just rude.  Love that.

The album is already out in Europe, and I’m warning you: Don’t sleep on it.  The Strange Boys fucking kick ass.

I See

Video for “Be Brave,” with lightswitch-flickering strobe effects!

Tags: Indie rock, Punk