Elliott Smith never wrote a bad song. There are at least 31 unreleased Elliott Smith songs that I've heard and not one of them even comes close to being anything but amazing. There's enough material for several b-sides albums.
"Grand Mal" was originally going to be the title for XO and, like Either/Or and Figure 8, the title track didn't make it onto the album. Pitchfork posted the mp3 as a groundbreaking, unearthed song and it has since been removed from any link on the site. Here, I give you the elusive "Grand Mal."
Elliott Smith - Grand Mal
It's just an acoustic and a lovely confection of sweet cake layer vocals. At the end you can hear him say, "Forget it. No, It's too fast." I'm sure Elliott tried his songs at various tempos and this version was a faster one.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Elliott Smith Zombie from Beneath the Earth - Grand Mal
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Preview :: Danny Johnston - Is and Always Was
Daniel Johnston is an oddity and an art. The sheer power of his lyrics alone got him through a decade of obscurity. That and a t-shirt worn by Kurt Cobain. His albums take the form of sing-spoken tape recorded fuzz fests and it's become his niche.
Johnston will release his first album of original material since 2003 on October 6th. And the album will be, strangely enough, a cross-breeding affair with high-fidelity. It shall be named Is and Always Was.
What? Is this a Daniel Johnston that one could actually dance/listen to? Never fear die hard fans.
This is DANIEL JOHNSTON. He looks like this:
Is and Always Was:
01 Mind Movies
02 Fake Records of Rock and Roll
03 Queenie the Doggie
04 High Horse
05 Without You
06 I Had Lost My Mind
07 Freedom
08 Tears
09 Is and Always Was
10 Lost in My Infinite Memory
11 Light of Day
Get yoour very own Daniel Johnston's Jeremiah the Innocent FANNY PACK!
at least someone's making money off of this
www.hihowareyou.com
Monday, August 24, 2009
Preview:: Karen O conducts the Wild Rumpus!
Karen O and The Kids - All is Love
Maurice Sendak's masterpiece of children's novels becomes Spike Jonez (and Dave Eggars') hopeful masterpiece of cinema on October 16th.
The soundtrack for the film is being produced by Yeah Yeah Yeah's leading lady, Karen O. It'll be out September 29th.
The first single "All is Love" is out on August 25th. It seems that all of the music is being written by Karen O and 'the kids,' who are her many collaborators. Among the kids are Yeah Yeah Yeahs bandmates Brian Chase and Nick Zinner, Bradford Cox (frontman of Deerhunter and Atlas Sound), Aaron Hemphill (Liars percussion, guitar and synth) and many others, including a children's choir!
The song is child-like euphoria incarnate. The choir of children and Max's voice blend with the soft, almost spoken, and unmistakable vocals of Miss O. It's a playful, positive romp that quite successfully creates an audible fantasy word.
The trailer worked beautifully with The Arcade Fire's "Wake Up." No words yet on if they'll be a part of the album.
What could be better news than this? Dave Eggars, who cowrote the screenplay is writing a novelization of the film. An except called "Max at Sea" you can sample from The New Yorker here.
wherethewildthingsare.warnerbros.com
Friday, August 21, 2009
Monsters of Drawing Lines
There was a time when Conor Oberst, although thankful to the people that helped with the performance, condemned the show he was playing, because it was put on by a "horribly greedy and oppressive organization" called Clear Channel. A time when Oberst was embarassed about even selling music: "buy my records down at the corporate chain. I tell myself I shouldn't be ashsamed, but I am" (from "Hole in One" by desaparecidos). A time when Bright Eyes made sure if they played a Clear Channel venue that the media giant didn't see a penny. A time when Bright Eyes refused to play a show in 2005 at The Pagent in St. Louis, because of the venue's ties with Clear Channel.
Which was puzzing, when I saw that Oberst's latest project Monsters of Folk is selling tickets for their upcoming tour through Live Nation, a sister company of Clear Channel. On top of the reasonable expensive tickets you get charged several fees. You have your standard venue fee (which I'd question if the venue is really getting anything out of it), you get charged charity (which eradicates the definition of it as 'charity') and a 'ticket fee'($12.95, a whopping %28 of the ticket price, which is Live Nation's 'we've got a monopoly and you guys are all suckers' tax). I remember buying Bright Eyes tickets from ticketmaster, which is one thing. Crossing a line you drew yourself in the sand is another.
Maybe a band with three members that will draw a huge crowd has no other choice but to nationally distribute tickets through Live Nation. Maybe they're under contract. Maybe Oberst is just giving in and going along with the way things are. Maybe worse. But hey, even Faulkner wrote screenplays in Hollywood for a while to be able to eat.
As Oberst said: "If anyone wants to see music continue as an artform and not a commercial good, then nows the time to make a change, because that's the way it's going. And there will no longer be real music if we keep letting them shove it down our fucking throats."
The rant video's here. Conor Oberst's speech before performing "Let's Not Shit Ourselves" live on MTV at the Shortlist awards on October 5th of 2003. The band was riding the release of Lifted. Needless to say, MTV cut the speech out of the broadcast.
As penance for this heinous crime, I offer you a crooning M. Ward on "The Sandman, The Brakeman and Me." I think the song is a representation of the trio's alter egos. On Bright Eyes' Cassadaga there was a song called "If the Brakeman Turns My Way," making him the 'brakeman.' Seeing as M. Ward's singing, that probably makes him the 'me,' which leaves Jim James as 'the sandman.'
Friday, August 21, 2009
Preview :: Freak of the Conchords
Flight of the Conchords will release I Told You I was Freaky, a follow up to their season one self-titled LP, on October 20th on Sub Pop.
It'll feature re-recorded songs from season two of the show. Among those are favorites like "Carol Brown" and the classy "Too Many Dicks (On the Dance Floor)," both from the Michel Gondry directed episode. "Rambling Through the Avenues of Time" is better known as "Bret's Day," a Peter Sarstedt imitation that you might recognize from Wes Anderson's "The Darjeeling Limited."
Flight of the Conchord's first LP is one of the only two Sub Pop records to go platinum, the other being Nirvana's Bleach. So, I'm sure there's high stakes in this album.
Here's the full tracklisting:
Was her name "Brahbrah?"
www.myspace.com/conchords
www.hbo.com/conchords/
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Preview :: New Built To Spill LP
Built to Spill is set to release their seventh album, There is No Enemy on October 6th.
Just the gloom of the album cover suggests a darker sound and the band has suggested that lyrics could get political.
2006's You In Reverse was an angst ridden guitar cacophony with several long jam exploring tracks. The band has said the new album won't hold anything devastatingly new for the band, but each Built to Spill record has its own personality. Whatever it is that makes this record so black and blue should be interesting.
For more info check out this pitchfork interview.
There is No Enemy:
01 Aisle 13
02 Hindsight
03 Nowhere Lullaby
04 Good Ol' Boredom
05 Life's a Dream
06 Oh Yeah
07 Pat
08 Done
09 Planting Seeds
10 Things Fall Apart
11 Tomorrow
www.builttospill.com
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Bleach Your Works!!! Nirvana Reissue
It's 1989. Bleach has just been released. Kurt hasn't met Courtney yet. Dave Grohl hasn't hit a single tom yet in the name of Nirvana. The band tours in a shitty van with wrecked equipment and they like it that way...for now.
These were the days of limitless filth and no future potential. When Kurt Cobain spelled his name Kurdt Kobain. When the band wrote nonsense songs about a beloved sitcom star smothering people to death with his butt. A sound that's gritty and nearly live, like only six hundred and six dollars and seventeen cents can provide. A cover photo shot by Kurt's old girlfriend, Tracey. Drums choreographed by Chad Channing, who also wrote every drum part on Nevermind. An album devoid of cultural significance and is okay for hipsters to admit they're into. "I like bleach and the unplugged album...even if it waaaaas for MTV."
On it's 20 year anniversary, Sup Pop (who only exist today because of Nirvana) reissue this bohemouth with several goodies. November 3, right here.
On the menu:
+White vinyl, as was the original issue.
+Remastered by the original producer Jack Endino (although Steve Albini would've done nicely as well).
+16 page photo booklet of photos the world has never seen.
+a complete recording of a show in 1990 at Portland's Pine Street Theatre.
Thank God Sup Pop still knows how to get things done.
In honor of the live recordings, here's a couple rare live Nirvana tracks from the Bleach era:
Live in Mezzago, Italy on November 26th, 1989
Nirvana - School (Live)
Nirvana - About a Girl (Live)
Bleach: Deluxe Edition:
01 Blew
02 Floyd the Barber
03 About a Girl
04 School
05 Love Buzz
06 Paper Cuts
07 Negative Creep
08 Scoff
09 Swap Meet
10 Mr. Moustache
11 Sifting
12 Big Cheese
13 Downer
Live at Pine Street Theatre:
01 Intro
02 School
03 Floyd the Barber
04 Dive
05 Love Buzz
06 Spank Thru
07 Molly's Lips
08 Sappy
09 Scoff
10 About a Girl
11 Been a Son
12 Blew
www.subpop.com/
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Radiohead's Twisted Words
When you get as big and credible as Radiohead, if you record one track it'll be all over the internet in an hour. Here to contribute to the audio gluttony is Radiohead's newest 'single' "These Are My Twisted Words." Make sure to donate: here.
www.waste.uk.com/Store/waste-radiohead-twisted+words.html
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Preview :: Bon Iver Side Project - Volcano Choir
Bon Iver frontman Justin Vernon's new side project with Collections of Colonies of Bees is called Volcano Choir. They'll be releasing Unmap on September 22nd. Use your purchasing power here.
Digital noises echoing out from the ether and...what, no falsetto? Cover yourself in a yellow blanket and dance out in the snow.
Here's the track listing and the track Island, IS:
01 Husks and Shells
02 Seeplymouth
03 Volcano Choir - Island, IS (right click save link as)
04 Dote
05 And Gather
06 Mbira in the Morass
07 Cool Knowledge
08 Still
09 Youlogy
www.myspace.com/volcanochoir
Monday, August 10, 2009
Album Review :: Christians & Lions - Bird's Milk EP
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Christians & Lions have just posted their newest Bird's Milk EP on their website to download for free: here. As always: donate, donate, donate!!!
The songs lounge around a cool breezy of tape static. Portykus' voice more hymnal than ever and the backing vocals add a lot of charm to the tracks. The song "Bird's Milk" will get you stomping along to it's feel good philanthropic beat.
On the site they wrote "why buy the cow when you can download the milk for free?" Which is a hilarious metaphor and appropriate for the EP title, but you're still getting all to music so it's more like downloading all the milk, steak, prime rib and hamburger, just not the leather. The leather being the hand made and hand numbered artwork, which is a very unique packaging.
I'm glad they included Free Radio Post-Apocalyptic Metropolis Blues. It's one of their oldest songs and I was sad to not see it on More Songs for the Dreamsleepers and the Very Awake. The broken glass orchestra on this version is playfully resplendent. I always liked the demo version from the Sharp Teeth days, which I will post here:
Christians & Lions - Free Radio Post-Apocalyptic Metropolis Blues (Demo) (right click save link as)
Download "Everybody So Gorgeous" (right click, save link as)
Thursday, August 06, 2009
Weirdstock Presented By The Whitehaus Family Record
The Whitehaus Family Record is an impressive DIY artists collective/record label/music venus/nonsense anonymous based out of Jamaica Plain. They've got some amazing bands that will be storming the country very soon, including Many Mansions, Gracious Calamity, Manners, Peace, Loving and many many more. I'm going to do a feature on them soon.
For now, I've got some news about an upcoming annual experimental, noise and psycadelic festival called Weirdstock. The event will take place on the 40th anniversary of
Woodstock weekend, and will feature 50 experimental acts from
different parts of New England and beyond. Three days, fifty bands, all ages.
YMCA Theater
820 Mass Ave.
Cambridge, MA
$7 for one day, $12 for two days and $15 for three days.
Here's the semi-official line-up and set times:
FRIDAY AUGUST 14
6:00 Jacob Mashak S
6:30 TBA
7:00 George Myers S
7:30 Skeletons Out F
8:30 Behavior S
9:00 White Limousine and Impatient Truck with Special Guest F
(chris cooper of Fat Worm of Error)
9:30 Harry Merry S
10:00 Julian Lynch S
10:30 Mudboy F
11:00 Keith Fullerton Whitman + Geoff Mullen S
SATURDAY AUG 15
1:00 Grass Tower S
1:30 Dick Heaven S
2:00 Psych Fam F
2:30Casey Rocheteau S
3:00 The Great Valley S
3:30 Invisible Circle F
4:00 The Hard Nips S
4:30 Tooth Ache F
5:00 Son of Salami/Psychic Vagina S
5:30 Many Mansions F
6:00 INTERMISSION
6:30Eat Cloud S
7:00Guatemala City F
7:30Lord Jeff S
8:00 Quilt F
8:30 Tempera S
9:00 White Light S
9:30 Sore Eros F
10:00 Kurt Weisman S
10:30 Harmonizer S (Greg Davis)
11:00 Dreamhouse S?
SUNDAY AUG 16
1:00 Concord Ballet Orchestra Players F
1:30 Ppalmm S
2:00 Fractillian F
2:30 Color Guard S
3:00 Cave Bears F
3:30 Sacred Harp S
4:00 Metal and Glass F
4:30 Omnivore S
5:00 Duck That F
5:30 Robert Stillman S
6:00 INTERMISSION
6:30 Goat of Arms S
7:00 Cursillistas S
7:30The Human Hairs F
8:00 Ricardo Donoso S
8:30 Peace, Loving F
9:00 Radio Wonderland S
9:30 Truman Peyote F
10:00 QFWFQ Duo S
10:30 Animal Hospital F
11:00 Devil Music Ensemble S
http://whitehausfamilyrecord.com/
Thursday, August 06, 2009
Modest Mouse and Heath Ledger in the Belly of a Whale
If he got into the mind of the Joker deeply accurately enough that it killed him, Heath Ledger must've had a wealth of morbid thoughts within him. Here's a look at one of them.
The video for Modest Mouse's song "King Rat" from the EP No One's First and You're Next was directed by Heath Ledger and depicts a gruesome, ironic and pretty damn clever role reversal of whales and whalers. The idea was Ledger's reaction against whaling off the coast of Australia.
Thursday, August 06, 2009
Radiohead Remembers the Dead
Radiohead has released a new single in memory of the recently deceased veteran of World War I, Harry Patch. You can hear it here and buy it here. Per Radiohead's usual generous selves, all proceeds go to the Royal British Legion.
Every once in a while the world need a good war ballad. This one's sombre strings and a wailing Brit's words were inspired by Patch's last interview.
There are only three verified WWI survivors still living.
http://www.radiohead.com/
Thursday, August 06, 2009
Preview :: New No Age EP Free Stream!
No Age's new EP, Losing Feeling is available to stream for free on the Sub Pop website: here. Get a 12"!!!
The four songs traipse through an ambient noise field out from the garages of breakneck three chord thrashes. Three full songs and one jam track. You can almost understand every one of drummersinger Dean Spunt's words.
Doing what I think should be the future of recorded music, this thing is not available on CD. It's only on digital and vinyl, the last ear parallax in bits and needles.
http://noagela.blogspot.com/
http://www.myspace.com/nonoage
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