[2012] Milky Toad + Chikiss - zimní son first impression

Some weird shit i found looking for weird shit to find. This is a split release, 5 tracks apiece.

Milky Toad is melodic, hazy, slightly electronic, russian but I thought it was japanese for at least three tracks, and that tells you about how clear the (male) vocals are. They seem to be there for atmosphere, not to for the words, anyway. I could swear I've heard the fifth track, "nebozloye" somewhere before. Lots of piano, very mellow, will listen again.

Chikiss is also russian, this music is also hazy and melodic, more electronic, actual drum machine, (female) vocals much higher in the mix and with fewer effects. I like this less but it doesn't suck. The label, Dopefish, seems to be run in part by these two artists, so if you like this album please support them by buying it - or another album by just one of these artists, since they both appear to have several.

Or, for that matter, an album by label-mate minimal art manifesto, for whom the listed genres on the Dopefish site are "c++ / markov chains / tracker music".

His songs are very short (38 seconds?) and have really weird-looking waveforms on soundcloud and I'm a little scared.

The more things change, or something.

I really liked this post over at Pockiblr (friend of deadly boars) about the complex cognitive and emotional reaction involved in having a band you've liked a long time make a record that you don't like. She says best what I've been trying to say to lots of people for awhile about a certain Oxford five-piece (whose last record I actually like, but that's besides the point).

[2012.05.05] Andrew Bird at Beacon Theatre, New York, NY

I can't believe I forgot to post about this show.  I woke up with a live version of Sectionate City stuck in my head today, so. This is "Give it Away" from the new album. I got a free digital download of the album and a live EP called Fake Conversations with my tickets - a very nice touch.

I can't find a better video at the moment, maybe I'll upgrade this later. The one I wanted to use in the first place finally started working. I originally posted Sifters, which you can watch here because it is also very nice. These are quite good for what's probably a smartphone, thank the venue for that. See a show there if you ever get a chance, please. There is no bad seat. They took advantage of this quite a bit, performing almost half a dozen songs gathered around a single microphone (including the one below, which is why I switched to this video), a trend that I really hope catches on more (see a very old First Aid Kit post with no microphones at all for more of the same).

Beirut at Coachella

I'm not much of a Beirut fan, but this is still stuck in my head, so

Modeselektor at Coachella

Half of Deadly Boars went to Coachella last weekend, and I'm finally taking a much needed sick day to recuperate. This has got to be one of the best performances I saw all weekend, hands down.

I'll try to post more stuff as it comes to mind. And don't forget to check out the live stream of this weekend's Coachella to catch the same lineup.

guess it's not being streamed a second time, sorry.

fradleybox not-radiohead live mix

Click here for the download link. Does what it says on the cover. Sorry for deliberately mangling the band names in the track list below but we live in a very litigious internets these days. Dates ate in YYYY.DD.MM format.

01 B*ck & The Fl*ming L*ps - The Golden Age - 2002.12.24 KCRW (FM)
02 Ir*n & W*ne - Sunset Soon Forgotten - 2005.06.20 Norfolk (live album)
03 The ******* Fire - No Cars Go - 2008.01.23 Live at the Wireless (FM)
04 The Delgados - The Actress - 1998 Black Sessions (FM)
05 D*ves - The Man Who Told Everything - 2001.06.13 WBCN (FM)
06 Blonde Redhead - Here Sometimes - 2010.09.27 Black Sessions (FM)
07 Califone - Funeral Singers - 2009.12.03 KEXP (FM)
08 Wilco - Impossible Germany - 2008 (live DVD)
09 Br*k*n S*c**l Scene - cause = time - 2004.08.07 Stockholm (FM)
10 P*rt*sh**d - Nylon Smile - 2008.05.20 BBC (FM)
11 Broadcast - Look Outside - 2001.04.08 Oneworld (FM)
12 Andrew Bird - You Woke Me Up! - 2009.12.xx Fingerlings 4 (live album)
13 múm - K Half Noise - 2002.09.21 Barcelona (unknown source)
14 The P*xies - Where is my Mind - 2004.05.01 Coachella (livedisc)
15 Feist - Lover's Spit - 2000 Black Sessions (FM)

[2011] Evenings - Lately

Oh hey, this is still here

Oh hey, Evenings released their (his?) first full-length at some point this year and I just noticed.

[2011] Chapelier Fou - Al Abama EP

Holy crap I love everything about this.

[2011] John Maus - We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves

I have been waiting my whole life (I think?) for someone to make an album of meaty songs that bridges the gap between cold-wave and space disco, so thank you John Maus. In his newest We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves (I don't think I'll ever remember that title, I keep typing Ancestors instead of Censors) we are given layers of murky synths, cheesy synths, raw synths, sexy synths, and other kinds of synths. The key thing to remember is "synths."

The opening track "Streetlight" is practically a brightly lit flashing sign of what's to come, brazenly announcing that if you in any way shape or form have been dreading the day that the Ghostbusters soundtrack become something worth mining for musical gold, now is the time to walk away. "Quantum Leap" is upbeat, hooky and reminds me of last year's hit Gary War single "Born of Light." I want to believe that "Head for the Country" is an ode to Tears for Fears, specifically "Head Over Heels" the video of which I couldn't get out of my head listening to the Maus track. As "retro" as it is, it also feels brand new to me and I won't bother reconciling that unless someone makes me.

The vocals are entrancing throughout the album (particularly in "Cop Killer" and "We Can Breakthrough"), and I can only try to sum the sound up as "Ariel Pink forcing Gregorian monks at gunpoint to sing Big Country covers." However, the final track "Believer" strikes a much different chord, and has an aimless "best of: shoegaze" thing going on, and seems much shorter than it is because you don't want it to end. Try both Quantum Leap and Believer below:

John Maus - Quantum Leap by RibbonMusic

John Maus - Believer by RibbonMusic

[2011] Medication - Judgment Day

Remember Lo-Fi? Me neither. Maybe this will jog your memory. The vocals are low and dispassionate, the songs well written and dramatic. Everything I try to write to describe it sounds stupid so I'm just gonna stop there. It's short and it wouldn't kill you to just listen to it, you know. Do you want to hurt me? You know you're killing your mother, right? She just wants what's best for you. I couldn't find any sort of streaming link so click here to buy or maybe try spotify? link to try removed because I am a pussy.

p.s. I swear I listen to bands whose names don't begin with 'M' from time to time.