Monthly Archives: July 2010

Maps & Atlases Perform “The Charm” With A Jr. High Drumline

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A pretty excellent rendition of the song.

From the press release:

“Chicago songsmiths Maps & Atlases have been making the rounds across America in support of their Barsuk-released debut LP, Perch Patchwork, recording in-studio sessions with Daytrotter, Done Waiting, The Wild Honey Pie and Big Yellow Couch. This week they add another hot destination to their list, this time complete with a middle school marching band drum-line! Maps & Atlases recently visited San Francisco’s Yourstru.ly studio, and had the opportunity to perform the song “The Charm” with a talented group of eighth-graders from Willie Brown Academy. According to Yours Truly’s Will Abramson, it wasn’t easy to track down a drum-line in SF, but he lucked out with these kids, finding them decked out in full marching band gear for their big gig. “The kids were a bit shy at first, but afterwards they all thanked the band and told them how it was a cool experience getting to listen to a song that wasn’t on the radio and actually play alongside a real band.” Aww.”

Perch Patchwork was released June 29th, 2010 via Barsuk Records. You can get it digitally from iTunes and on vinyl from Insound.

LCD Soundsystem – ‘Home’

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The Queitus recently posted a lengthy and interesting piece on James Murphy where he details how This Is Happening will be LCD Soundsystem’s last. Given that the album landed at #10 on the Billboard 200 and kicked Lady Gaga out of her 5 month #1 spot of the dance charts, it seems like a hard gig to walk away from. If you read the piece, here’s a fair bit of complexity to Murphy that I wasn’t previously aware of.

LCD SOUNDSYSTEM – HOME

The closing track ‘Home’ is my favorite from the album, full of hypnotic loping keyboards and a trademark LCD Soundsystem lockstep beat. Murphy’s vocals shine on this one, emoting the longing in the song perfectly. Given the news that this will be the band’s last release, the lyrics take on an added meaning…almost a tired but loving send off to his fans. Regardless, it’s a fantastic album closer and, if it is indeed the case, a great cap to Murphy’s trio of albums.

This Is Happening was released on May 18, 2010 via DFA Records. You can purchase it from iTunes or direct from the band as a $80 deluxe pack which features a record bag, t-shirt, vinyl, cd & digital download.

SLEEP ∞ OVER – ‘Your World Is Night’

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Mood maximalists SLEEP ∞ OVER are a refreshing find. The trio churns out that kind of reverb enhanced music that I adore so much. Originally released on the now sold out cassette compilation Dark As Night from Bathetic Records, the track ‘Your World Is Night’ traffics in a beautiful kind of mood that rests somewhere in between bliss and paranoia. Sparse percussion, undulating tones and echoed vocals make for an excellent track.

[audio:http://www.takingtigermountain.com/audio/Sleep Over - Your World Is Night.mp3]
SLEEP ∞ OVER – YOUR WORLD IS NIGHT

Take a look at the equally moody video by Josh Morgan, who’s also done clips for Neon Indian’s ‘Mind Drips’ and Cold Cave’s ‘Cebe and Me’.

Though the Bathetic comp is sold out, you can grab their self titled cassette for $7.00 from Night People.

Holy Ghost! remixes LCD Soundsystem

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Holy Ghost! has a pretty great remix of LCD Soundsystem’s ‘Drunk Girls’ as part of the Adult Swim Singles Program. The program is in it’s 7th out of 8th week, and has hosted exclusives from Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Madvillan, and Black Lips. To go with the track, Adult Swim got Daniel Garcia to shoot a clip for it. They went up to Portland and filmed an epic bike jousting round in slow motion…less something to go with the lyrics, more something that just works as a wacky visual. It doesn’t at all beat the original Spike Jones video, but I think the remix may be better than the original album version…makes it sound less like ‘North American Scum’ and a proper dance track.

Grab a copy from the Adult Swim Singles Club.

Garcia has done some awesome work for Adult Swim before, helming, among other things, the clips that accompanied the Chrome Children compilation. My favorite of that bunch is the animation that goes with the strangely spiritual Dilla track ‘Nothing Like This’. Not sure if it’s the video that makes it feel so much like it’s about dying, but I love it either way.

For no reason but that Adult Swim loves corporate auto sponsorship (the Singles Program is sponsored by Kia), I’m using this opportunity to post a clip from Frisky Dingo:

Scion TC! Scion TC! Scion TC! Scion TC! Scion TC! Scion TC! Scion TC! Scion TC!