The real world just marches in sometimes, commanding a clear domination of one’s free time. As I do love my site, it’s a ton of work and the day job has been barking louder. Filling the void since my last post has been the happy surprise of the election turnout in Obama’s favor. I had some faith that things would swing this way, but given the state of the world for the past 8 years, I also had my questions.

After the results came in, I found myself driving around L.A. listening to “Old Old Fashioned” by Frightened Rabbit. The upbeat tone matching what I feel about what could happen in the next chunk of American history. There’s nothing like a bit of joy to match the empty streets of L.A. at night.

Frightened Rabbit - Old Old Fashioned

With the release of Witching Hour, way back in 2005, Ladytron jumped from being a band that I enjoyed to becoming a band that I loved. The album’s dark veneer gave a touch of substance to their always charming, but aloof sound. It was clear that the band was growing and the choices they were making were good ones.

I was equally excited when Velocifero was announced, but once I finally heard it the album never quite grabbed me. It didn’t feel as cold or engaging as Witching Hour (a contradiction I know, but there was something in that album which encompassed both). I know that I simply just need to give the whole album some more time, but something stopped me.

Just this week I discovered the Modwheelmod remix of Ghosts, the single which accompanied the release of Velocifero. I’m always a fan of remixes, but I always love ones that dial the tempo down instead of up. The song is stripped down to a spare selection drums and synth washes, letting the vocal interplay between Helen Marnie and Mira Aroyo take the centerstage in a bath of reverb. Simple and slow will always catch my attention…reverb never hurts too.

Los Angeles’s Modwheelmod is responsible for the reworking and is comprised of Alessandro Cortini and guitarist Pelle Hillström. Cortini was one of the producers on Velocifero and serves currently as one of the touring members of Nine Inch Nails (maybe this explains the NIN opening slot earlier this year?)

Ladytron - Ghosts (Modwheelmod remix)

‘Ghosts’ from 2008’s Velocifero

‘Runaway’ from 2008’s Velocifero

Ladytron Interview and Synth Tutorial from Nylon TV

Why? stands as the most blogged about band here on Taking Tiger Mountain in its short little life, but I do unabashedly love them. Yoni is one of few people I’ve had the pleasure of doing an in-person interview with back in ‘06; I talked with him at Chicago’s Double Door before their opening slot for The Silver Jews. I’ve seen them quite a bit in my free time and also reviewed their shows on more than one occasion (The Double Door show and later opening for Yo La Tengo at Chicago’s Vic Theater). They’re starting a long few months of touring, hitting Los Angeles’s Echoplex tomorrow.

That show will include DJ’s from Dublab and Asmatic Kitty’s Rafter as openers.

After tonight’s LA date, Why? heads out for a long jaunt that stretches into a European tour. Dates below:

09-04 - Los Angeles, CA Echoplex
09-05 - Tempe, AZ The Clubhouse
09-06 - Tucson, AZ Solar Culture
09-08 - Austin, TX Mohawk*
09-09 - Dallas, TX Granada Theater*
09-11 - Pensacola, FL Sluggo’s*
09-12 - Gainseville, FL Common Grounds*
09-13 - Miami, FL White Room*
09-14 - Orlando, FL The Social*
09-16 - Asheville, NC Grey Eagle*
09-17 - Philadelphia, PA First Unitarian Church*
09-18 - New York, NY Bowery Ballroom*
09-19 - Boston, MA Museum of Fine Arts
09-20 - Portland, ME Space Gallery
09-21 - Providence, RI Club Hell
09-22 - Montreal, QC La Sala Rossa
09-25 - Cincinnati, OH Midpoint Music Festival
09-26 - Chicago, IL Bottom Lounge#
09-27 - Minneapolis, MN Triple Rock#
09-29 - Denver, CO Hi- Dive
09-30 - Salt Lake City UT Kilby Court
10-02 - Vancouver, BC Richard’s On Richard
10-03 - Seattle, WA Vera Project
10-04 - Portland, OR Wonder Ballroom
10-22 - Confort Moderne - Poitiers
10-23 - Le Fil - Saint Etienne
10-24 - La Vapeur - Dijon
10-25 - BB Mix Festival - Paris
10-27 - Pirates Cabaret - Amiens
10-28 - Electrique - La Havre
10-29 - L’Antipode - Rennes
10-30 - Festival Yamoy - Nantes
10-31 - Rockomotives - Vendôme
11-01 - Andrew Lane Theatre - Dublin
11-03 - TBA - London
11-06 - Centre Culturel - Massy
11-07 - Musique Volante - Metz
11-08 - Super Sound Festival - Colmar
11-11 - Maria Am Ufer - Berlin
11-12 - Ut Connewitz - Leipzig

% = w/ Tussle
* = w/ Mount Eerie
# = w/ Tobacco

I’ll be at the Echoplex tonight, jealous of all the folks who get to see the shows with Mount Eerie. That’ll be something special.

In honor of the Rafter’s new EP which drops September 9th, here’s a few insane tracks that Asthmatic Kitty has released:

‘Salt’ from 2008’s Sweaty Magic
Download audio file (Rafter - Salt.mp3)

‘Juicy’ from 2008’s Sweaty Magic
Download audio file (Rafter - Juicy.mp3)

‘Sweat’ from 2008’s Sweaty Magic
Download audio file (Rafter - Sweat.mp3)

BUY IT

A good pop tune jumps in, like a ninja, does its routine and, with a blinding flash, is gone. Ryan Lindsey’s song ‘Friend For Life’ does just that. The tune takes spazzy drums, boinging bass and near-50’s backup vocals, blending it into something that nudges the base of the brain and prods you to play it repeatedly.

I’ve honestly not explored the remainder of the album enough, but it shares the same subdued sheen with the 2 minutes of flutter and charm that is ‘Friend For Life’. Based on just this song, the ex-Starlight Mints guitarist is definitely worth further investigation.

Ryan Lindsey - Friend For Life

Daytrotter has a lovely little clip featuring Joan of Arc’s Tim Kinsella performing the title track off their new album Boo Human. With just an acoustic guitar in a Salt Lake City parking garage, Mr. Kinsella works his way through the song with a breezy lack of effort as exiting cars echo through the structure. The space’s loose reverb brings a suited melancholy.

TIM KINSELLA PERFORMS ‘BOO HUMAN’ FOR DAYTROTTER

As well, take a peek at Scrapple.tv’s interviews and performance clip from Joan of Arc’s July performance at Philly’s First Unitarian Church, a venue I’d probably hit up if it were closer. Reminds me of Chicago’s soon to be defunct South Union Arts, if it were still a functioning church along along being an indie rock venue. SUA’s final show is September 6th, so if you’re in Chicago…help see the place off.

PART 1 OF SCRAPPLE.TV’S JOAN OF ARC INTERVIEW

PART 2 OF SCRAPPLE.TV’S JOAN OF ARC INTERVIEW

The site says it’s a 4 part series, but they’ve yet to post the remaining two.

Back to Joan of Arc, acoustic has always been the mode of choice for me and Joan of Arc. This is best shown through the title track of 2006’s Eventually, All At Once, which showcases Kinsella’s wavering voice and circular, loping guitar work.

Joan of Arc - Eventually, All At Once

The birth of a genre is a rare thing. In this day and age, most new concepts are simply a bridge of two pre-existing ideas with a teeny little hyphen. With Brooklyn’s Previously On Lost, an epic and original genre is born: Recap Rock.

And Taking Tiger Mountain has an exclusive download courtesy of the band.

Previously On Lost spent the 4th season of Lost writing tunes inspired by each episode after they aired. Now that the show is done for the season, they’ve taken the full set of songs, which veer wildly all over the musical map, on tour. The music itself is a weird concoction: spastic indie rock with a definite Frank Zappa haze of weird. The vocals are an odd layered falsetto and have a kitchen sink approach to the instrumentation. There’s a definite feeling that reminds me of the beautiful chaos of The Unicorns, except, you know, all the lyrics are about Lost.

Which makes it ten times more awesome.

Songs like “Be My Constant”, “We’re Goin’ Home” and “The Island Won’t Let You Die” might give a clue to the episodes they correlate to. The lyrics are funny and sometimes just beautifully tic through the events of an episode in an almost linear manner with cheeky commentary. This, as a massive fan of the show, often just puts a big old smile on my face. You can’t beat the cop-show opening bongos and sappy keyboard on “The Ballad of Sayid Jarrah” tied with the lyrics:

And that’s right before the sax comes in. If you’ve seen the episode in question (S04, E03 - The Economist, air date 02.14.08), it’s a pretty concise encapsulation of the show in question. Except when they get to the breakdancing bit at the end of the song. Trust me, just give a listen.

For those in the Los Angeles area, they’re in the midst of their mini-California tour with a show tonight at Spaceland, taking the stage at 8:30pm. Thursday 8/21 is the night I’d suggest you catch, as they’re playing the entirety of their Season 4 show at the Knitting Factory.

If you can’t make the shows, please take a listen to the exclusive download that the guys in Previously On Lost were kind enough to give me:

Previously On Lost - Gotta Take Your Meds

What more could you ask for?

If you do love it, you can buy their album The Tale of Season 4 and the Oceanic 6 from iTunes:

SHOWS

08/20 - Spaceland - 2906 Sunset Blvd at the intersection of Sunset and Parkman Ave.
Cover - $8
Set time - 8:30, opening for The Atma 9:30pm, Venus Illuminato 10:30p, Olin and the Moon 11:30p

08/21 - The Knitting Factory - 7021 Hollywood Blvd.
Cover $10
Show starts at 7:30

We’re Goin Home

Be My Constant

The good folks at Pitchfork TV are hosting 2 Player Production’s documentary on the 8-bit scene Reformat The Planet for a brief week. The film launched on Friday, Aug 15th, so you’ve got 6 days left to view it.

Covox - Dubslide

This Thursday, August 14th the 4th annual I Am 8-Bit show returns to Los Angeles. Y’all know my unbridled love for all that is 8-bit, and this collective is a fine showcase of art inspired by the vintage aesthetic. Last year’s show was an event I planned to hit up, but only saw it in photos afterward. It looked like an event worth attending.

This year, it’ll be hosted at the World of Wonder Storefront Gallery, which is at 6500 Sunset Blvd (map here). The fantastic Computer Jay and the previously-unknown-to-me DJ R Rated will be performing and booze will be provided. Opening night festivities will run from 8 pm to midnight, Thursday August 14th. Should you miss the event, the show will run through September 8th.

For the show, they commissioned a fantastic set of 4 spot gloss flyers by one of my all-time favorite artists Scott C. Should you feel, you can cut them up and make your own vintage cardboard arcade. Wonderful.

Click each for a full view of the fliers:

I’m not quick to crown anyone with a title, let alone someone I don’t really know. Secondly, it’s never good to name anyone as the saving grace of hip-hop, as it’s difficult to save anything that, en masse, isn’t in the mood to be saved. Since the birth of the movement, the salvation of hip-hop has been a low priority.

But, along comes Wale and within a few listens, I’m suddenly thinking to against those lines. I downloaded the new Mixtape About Nothing, honestly based on the curiosity at what lunatic would really theme a mixtape after Seinfeld. After the opening few tracks, I’ve got those flutters in my ear that remind the first time I heard Mos Def’s Black On Both Sides, with the slick palatable production and intelligent rhymes. The Mixtape About Nothing itself is a solid work of art, that found itself getting multiple plays over the course of last weekend. He’s smart, without being too aloof. Production choices, like the use of Justice’s D.A.N.C.E as the backing on last year’s 100 Miles and Running shows a smart touch that’ll just make his wider appeal that much more apparent.

I’ve had a pretty love/hate relationship with the last 5+ years of hip-hop, each year offering me less and less that genuinely appealed to my ear. Both production choices and lyrical styles just veered away from my real taste. Lately, production’s been a factor in my drifting off; moving away from a reliance on pricey samples took a little of the soul and swing away from much of the music. It’s cheesy, but I’m a sucker for just a well-aged snare sample. Well, From start to finish both The Mixtape About Nothing and 100 Miles And Running are slick, fun, and smart…a combination just not so often found in hip-hop these days. The choices of backing tracks are amazing, his lyrics are consistently interesting and at times, incredibly insightful (The Kramer). Hell, I’m even entranced by the purposeful contextualization of Seinfeld clips.

Wale is on his way up. Given that the man has produced a few mixtapes that are better than most people’s debut albums in another 6 months, he’ll be someone you’ll struggle to not constantly read blog posts about.

Enjoy his last two mixtapes, which are available as free, digital downloads:

Wale - 100 Miles and Running

Wale - The Mixtape About Nothing

W.A.L.E.D.A.N.C.E - from 100 Miles And Running

Wale Live in NYC at Don Hills

The Roots feat. Wale & Chrisette Michele - from The Roots Rising Down as well Wale’s Mixtape About Nothing

This song is also proof that ?uestlove is a gooddamn fine drummer.

RSS feeds are out. Now we have what everyone loves to hate: a Twitter Feed!

Yes, I’ll now be contributing to the wonderful website with a mysterious profit model in hopes of promoting this wonderful musicblog. Subscribe to the OFFICIAL Taking Tiger Mountain feed to get updates on when new blog posts go up, recycled links from other more frequently updated music sites, and quite possibly, my musings about the chicken burrito I had for dinner tonight. (I ordered it without sour cream, it was good, and I ate it alone…glad that’s out of the way.)

Click the link below to find the new limb of Taking Tiger Mountain:

Oh yeah, I’m bringing the BLINK tag back, too. Just so ya know.

Following up on last year’s 77Boadrum, the even has expanded and gone bi-costal. This year, you’ll get live drumming in both NYC and Los Angeles. The LA venue will be at the La Brea Tar Pits, nestled in the heart of the city. For NYC, the everyone will be gathering at the Williamsburg Waterfront. The west coast event will be conducted by Soft Circle contributor and 88BoaDrum artistic director Hisham Bharoocha; east coast duties will be handled by local act Gang Gang Dance. Both cities will be performing an 88 minute piece that will begin this Friday 8/8/08 at, yep, you guessed it…8:08pm. Personally, LA wins for the simple fact that they have Hella’s Zach Hill. I doubt they’ll let him solo, but one can dream.

I had the chance to catch The Boredoms a few years ago at 2006’s Intonation festival, where Eye conducted a mini version of the past two years events. Leading a circle of 6 drummers on the outdoor Chicago stage, the whole event was surreal and hypnotic. Amongst an lineup that smashed stoned hip-hop up against Robert Pollard’s tequila fueled antics, The Boredoms brief but electric set was the peak of an otherwise wonky festival.

Available at the show will be first-come, first-served hand screened “Nike Sportswear 88BoaDrum NSW Tee.” Woo Nike sponsorship! Each of the event shits will be hand screened on site, featuring designs by Boredom’s lead noisician Eye. Supposedly, the performers may be getting some custom kicks too.

While the event is free, it looks like most all the tickets from the website have been distributed. There may still be tickets at the physical distribution centers for each event:

LA:

Amoeba Music
6400 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, Ca 90028
323.245.6400

LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art)
5905 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 857-6000

NYC:

Sound Fix Records-Brooklyn
110 Bedford Ave @ N.11th St. , Brooklyn NY 11211
(718) 388-8090

Other Music-Manhattan
15 East 4th Street, NY NY 10003
(212) 477-8150

Volunteering is also an option; one I may be engaging in just to make sure I can participate in what will be an undoubtedly amazing event. Drop a line to volunteers88BoaDrum@gmail.com to see if there’s still slots open.

If all else fails, there’s always the Craigslist vultures of NY and LA

L.A.:

Hisham A. Bharoocha (Soft Circle)
Zach Hill (Hella)
Butchy Fuego (Pit Er Pat)
Kid Millions (Oneida)
Dave Nuss (No-Neck Blues Band / Under Satan’s Sun)
Christopher Powell (Icy Demons / Man Man)
Aaron Moore (Volcano the Bear)
Warren Huegel (Tussle)
Dustin Donaldson (Freelance Session, I Am Spoonbender, Link Wray, Thought Industry)
Derek James (Entrance)
Joe Plummer (Modest Mouse, All Smiles, Black Heart Procession)
Tim Soete (The Fucking Champs)
Michael Tapper (We Are Scientists)
Adam Pfahler (Jawbreaker)
Claude Collins-Stracensky
Sara Lund (Unwound)
Matthew Hartman (Sic Alps)
Chris Moore (Negative Approach)
Abby Ball
Ryan Huber
Geoff Soule (FUCK, Tara Jane O’neil)
John Dwyer (Thee Oh Sees)
Shahin Motia (Oneida / Ex Models / Knyfe Hyts)
Alexis Garapulos (Arp / Expanding Headband)
Katelyn Hall (Mika Miko)
David Janik (Company)
Michael Henrickson (Smegma / Jackie-O-Motherfucker)
Tom Recchion
Michael Bulington
Trent Moorman (Like a Kite/The Saturday Knights)
Brian Dwyer
Damon Eliza Palermo (Mi Ami)
Michael Catano
Vice Cooler (xbxrx / Hawnay Troof)
Andy Connors (ex-A Minor Forest / Lumen)
Weasel Walter (xbxrx)
Adam Baz (Evangelista, Ohioan, Nightwonds)
Dave Aron (Koi Pond)
Pete Vogl (Koi Pond)
Robin Easton
Alianna Kalaba (We Ragazzi)
Gregory Rogove (Priestbird)
Jonathan Holland (Tussle)
Brendan Fowler (BARR / Car Clutch)
Adam Autry
Anthony Petrovic (Ezeetiger / The Drums)
Rob Barber (High Places)
Dan Rowan
Grace Lee (Foot Village)
Jason Adam Baker (Necking)
Andrew Neuhues
Sandra Vu (Midnight Movies)
Than Luu (Black Gold / M. Ward / Adam Franklin)
Jaiko Suzuki (Electro Putas)
Brian Miller (Foot Villlage)
Ryan Pritts (Paik / Bolmongani)
Gabie Strong
Jessica Espeleta
Patty Schemel (Hole, Juliette Lewis, Pink)
Roy Tatum (Wives)
London May (Samhain / Dag Nasty)
Wendy Shuey
Paul Quattrone (!!!, Modey Lemon, Midnite Snake)
Josh Taylor (Foot Village / Friends Forever)
Sarah Anderson (Lucky Dragons)
James Jolliff (Brother Reade)
Brian Girgus (lowercase / Track Star)
Yoshi Nakamoto (The Aislers Set)
Nora Brank
Chris Hathwell (Moving Units)
Kevin Stuart (Crystal Antlers)
Damian Edwards (Crystal Antlers)
Bianca Sparta (Erase Errata)
Michael La Franchi (Giant Drag / Let’s Go Sailing)
Taylor Richardson (Sunburned Hand of the Man)
Kevin Haskins (Bauhaus)
Diva Dompe (Black Black)
Tennessee Thomas (The Like)
Erin Garcia (Brother Reade)
Steven McCarty (Dead Meadow)
Joachim Cooder
Mike Sord Gard (M. Sord)
Aaron Sperske (Beachwood Sparks)
Sara Diaz
Wendy Farina
Greg Fox (Pink Mountain / Family of Love)

N.Y.:

Ryan Sawyer (Tall Firs / Stars Like Fleas / Thurston Moore / Eye Contact / Lone Wolf and Cub)
Chris Brokaw (Come/ ffffflashlights/ Thurston Moore’s New Wave Bandits)
Will Shmee (Knox Dad)
Suzanne Rogaleski (Lone Wolf and Cub / Badmittons)
Alex Holden (Big Numbers)
Brian Mcleod (Modest Mouse / Lights / Love as Laughter)
Torbitt Schwartz (Chin Chin / Reverend Vince Anderson)
Jaleel Bunton (TV on the Radio / Reverend Vince Anderson)
Brian Tamborello (Psychic Ills)
Jim Siegel (Ning Nong Radio)
Greg Anderson (Oakley Hall / Windsor for the Derby)
Dreiky Caprice (Crash Worship)
Matt Heyner (Malkuth / No-Neck Blues Band)
Joseph Stickney (Bear In Heaven / Rhys Chatham / Paul Duncan)
Matt Sweeney (Chavez / Zwan / Neil Diamond)
Samara Lubelski (Hall of Fame / Thurston Moore’s New Wave Bandits)
Pete Nolan (Magik Markers / Spectre Folk)
Abby Portner (Rings / Hex Message)
Tom Peyton (Fakers / KGB)
John Moloney (Sunburned Hand of the Man)
Andrya Ambro (Talk Normal)
David Sparks
Spencer Herbst (Matta Llama)
Timothy Monaghan (J.A.C.K.)
Andrew Barker (Gold Sparkle Band)
Joseph Noll (My Best Fiend)
Dave Witte (Municipal Waste)
Nick Lesley (Necking / Gunung Sari)
Jim Sykes (Parts and Labor)
Michael Evans (God Is My Co-Pilot)
Dong-Ping Wong (Necking)
Spencer Sweeney
Nondor Nevai (Aborted Christ Child)
Jonathan Lockie (Sightings)
Dave Bergander (Celebration)
Jules Scott Key (Metric / Bang Lime)
Yuval Lion (Pink Noise)
Ronnie Seward (Whooping Crane)
Corinne Jones (Effi Briest)
Adam Lee (Let’s Go Bowling)
Nancy Garcia (Monotract / Thurston Moore)
Ben McConnell (Phosphorescent)
Pascal Spengemann (Hex Message)
Speck Brown (Orphan)
Laura Rogers (The Rogers Sisters)
Rupert Clervaux (Sian Alice Group)
Kyle Warren (Dinowalrus)
Adam Marnie (The Mess of New Mexico)
Alex Epton (Spank Rock / XXXchange)
Otto Hauser (Espers / Bert Jansch / Vashti Bunyan)
Nick DeCarmine (Slow Dynamte)
Frank Haines (Blanko and Noiry)
Brian Deran
Marcus Burrowes (Rockersnyc)
Avi Cohen (Soiled Mattress and the Springs / Silk Flowers
Emmy Miller (Xtreme Violence / The Peppermints)
Ryan Tozzi
Oran Canfield (Child Abuse)
Erik Rappin (A.R.E. Weapons)
Matt McCauley (A.R.E. Weapons)
Brian McPeck (A.R.E. Weapons)
Brian Weitz (Animal Collective)
Kyle Simon (Baby Talk)
Danny Tunick (Arnold Dreyblatt / Fakers)
Leah Moskowitz (Bloody for Me)
Joe Wong (Parts and Labor)
Nathan Corbin (Excepter)
Hamish Kilgour (Clean and the Great Unwashed / Samara Lubelski)
Linnea Vedder Shults (LIGHTS)
Lacy Lancaster (Durty Nanas)
Kathleen Cholewka (Les Sans Culottes / Discovery)
Noah Lennox (Panda Bear / Animal Collective)
James Buonantuono (Other Passengers / Ruby Glass)
Sadie Laska (I.U.D. / Extreme Violence)
Keith Connolly (No-Neck Blues Band)
Jason Mills
James Corrigan (ON?OFF / Wool, Rivers)
Miles Levy (Malcolm Mooney / No Doctors)
Tommy Rouse (Entrance)
Eric Cohen (Caroliner Rainbow)
Christopher Weingarten (ex-Parts and Labor)
Tim Evans (Bogan Dust
Ian Vanek (Japanther)
Chris Millstein (Jah Division)
Nick Ray (Golden Triangle)
Travis Chance (Usurp Synapse)
Michael Colin (Aa)

Though I far prefer the cute soaring chorus of ‘Left Behind’ over the grunge-lite camp of ‘Rat Is Dead’, but the latter will do for a label sanctioned freebie. Sub Pop has released the song to give us a taste of the recently released CSS album entitled Donkey. The cutesy buzzsaw riffs do the job, but the better choice is the first single ‘Left Behind’.

It’s a song fully formed; utilizing the smatterings of studio polish to round out their sound, rather than corrupt and bloat it. The hook is a genuine winner, mashing Lovefoxxx’s soaring vocals with the punkish guitar riffage. Case in point, my roommate just walked by, ushered by my repeated playing of the track, air-guitaring along with the chorus. I think it’s exactly the kind of reaction the song intends to illicit, given that the song’s sugary coating will grind it’s way into your memory quite easily.

CSS - Rat Is Dead (Rage)

CSS - Left Behind

Left Behind

It’s been nearly 2 years since Scottish post rock masters Mogwai have released a proper album. Mr. Beast came out in early ‘06 and except for that wicked riff in the middle of ‘Glasgow Mega-Snake’, was honestly a pretty wobbly affair. The following years saw the band doing the soundtracks for football doc Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait and the vaguely metaphysical Aronofsky film The Fountain.

September 23rd of this year will see the release of The Hawk Is Howling, a new album released via Wall of Sound. In honor of the impeding release, a single has been set free on the internet…like an eagle or hawk. Get it?

Mogwai - Sun Smells Too Loud

The overall dynamic remains the same, but the consistency of the atmosphere has shifted somewhat. A distinctly electronic texture sits atop the usual Mogwai formula. It’s a slight twist, something that counterbalances the inherent same-ness that made Mr. Beast disappointing. While there’s nothing wrong with the Mogwai structure, but there’s something to be said for a band subtly adding to the usual to create “new”.

Look for the new release on September and check out the track listing below.

1 I’m Jim Morrison, I’m dead
2 Batcat
3 Danphe and The Brain
4 Local Authority
5 The Sun Smells Too Loud
6 Kings Meadow
7 I Love you, I’m Going To Blow Up Your School
8 Scotland’s Shame
9 Thank You Space Expert

The day job called me a way for a significant length of time to deal with the thrill ride that is Comicon International. About a month and a half of prep outside of my normal book load, followed by 5 days of blissfully uncomfortable nirvana that is akin to being forcibly penetrated by a rainbow.

Yeah, that was from the final day of SDCC ‘07. It kinda feels like that after you work from setup to breakdown.

Anyhoo, I was drinking a solitary whiskey on the rocks of the evening, sitting outside at the Hyatt (yeah, too lazy to adhere to the boycott…it’s ok I didn’t pay for the drink) checking Google Analytics out of nervous boredom. Thanks primarily to Demi of This Next and her massive Stumbleupon influence, I found myself with a sizable spike in traffic. Moments later, my friend Andrew came running up looking like he’d witnessed the birth of his child, when he’d actually bumped into a slightly inebriated Joss Whedon *and* had a chance to chat with him.

Comicon is full of fun moments like that; it’s a surreal, democratic blend of fan, creator and furry all waiting in the same slow-moving line for a shitty convention center hotdog. Now that the madness is finally over, and the job has subsided a bit, I’m back to bring the posts up to a more regular frequency. Thanks to all those that have been stopping by!

This year I had a new phone around to snap a bunch of wacky pics. Enjoy the blurry fun over at my Flickr

Stumbling around the internet in search of music is a pastime of mine. There’s a lot of methods to scrape out the strange & new nuggets from around the web. A ton of sites offer free downloads, contained within mailers or in the nooks and crannies of their websites. A few of my favorites do come from a email lists: Oh My Rockness deals out a handful & Filter gives you one each Monday when they send out their email list.

A lot of times, I’ll just grab whatever freebies the web has to offer, shove them in my iTunes and let random work its magic. Via this method a lot of weird and interesting things that I probably wouldn’t have give the proper time to have gotten my ear. This week I’ve assaulted several times by The Death Set and their song ‘Negative Thinking’. From the Kraftwerk-by-way-of-an-Iowa-methlab drum programming to the earnestly fuzzy vocals, the song drips with a minimalist intensity that, once adjusted to, is inescapably charming. Each time the song would pop on, the chopped up samples scattered over the intro would always make me think that early 90’s industrial mp3’s had found their way into my library*. Once the buzzsaw guitars appear the whole affair propels itself forward, propped up on the chanting vocals and an almost calming layer of keyboard. Maybe they’re something like Atari Teenage Riot for the modern days, who knows, but like most of the other bands from Baltimore that have popped up on the radar lately…the key is the jittery, infectious fun.

The Death Set follows that unspoken citywide manifesto to a T.

The Death Set - Negative Thinking

* As a result of this post, I will now devote my free time to writing a virus that forcibly downloads Front 242 & really early Thrill Kill Kult onto your computer. Look for it 4th quarter ‘08.